Picture a high school senior from a small rural town, staying late at the library to study for the SAT. For years, that standardized test represented her best shot at proving she could compete with students from wealthy prep schools. Then came the pandemic, and elite universities announced they no longer required test scores.
It seemed like progress toward equity. But something unexpected happened.
After years of test-optional admissions, Yale and Dartmouth reversed course. Their decision signals a major shift in college admissions philosophy, driven by data rather than ideology. These elite universities are reinstating SAT requirements because standardized tests better predict student success than inflated grades, and test-optional policies unexpectedly disadvantaged the very students they aimed to help.
The Test-Optional Experiment Comes to an End
When COVID-19 disrupted testing centers nationwide, Yale and Dartmouth joined hundreds of colleges in dropping SAT and ACT requirements [Inside Higher].
The move seemed sensible. Students couldn’t access testing sites, and many educators had long questioned whether standardized tests truly measured academic potential.
The pandemic accelerated a trend that had been building for years. The University of California system had already dropped standardized testing in 2019, and more than 2,000 colleges and universities adopted test-optional or test-free policies [NACAC].
But internal research at these Ivy League schools revealed unexpected problems. Yale’s analysis found that SAT scores predicted first-year grades more accurately than high school GPA or teacher recommendations. Students with similar GPAs but different SAT scores showed significant performance gaps in college coursework.
This data challenged basic assumptions about test fairness and academic preparation. Now, Dartmouth, Yale, and UPenn have reinstated requirements to submit standardized test scores for admission [Inside Higher].
Standardized Tests Predict Academic Success
Photo by Why do standardized tests matter so much? The answer lies in what they actually measure.
Unlike grades, which vary wildly between schools and teachers, the SAT provides a consistent benchmark. It assesses reasoning skills and academic preparation across diverse educational backgrounds. A student scoring 1400 or higher on the SAT typically maintains significantly higher college GPAs than peers with similar high school grades but lower test scores.
This predictive power becomes important when admissions officers evaluate thousands of applications. Elite universities need reliable metrics to assess whether students can handle rigorous STEM courses, intensive writing seminars, and demanding academic workloads.
Consider two applicants with identical 4.0 GPAs. One attends a highly competitive magnet school, another attends a school with notoriously easy grading. Without standardized measures, how can admissions officers distinguish between them? The SAT provides that common yardstick, offering objective data that high school grades increasingly fail to deliver.
Grade Inflation Undermines Application Quality
Here’s a startling reality: nearly 50% of high school students now graduate with A averages, up from 38% just a decade ago.
When everyone has excellent grades, those grades stop meaning much.
This grade compression creates a serious problem for competitive admissions. If half your applicant pool has a 4.0 GPA, how do you identify the students who are genuinely exceptional?
The inconsistency runs deeper than just inflation. Different high schools apply wildly different grading standards. An A at one school may represent genuine mastery of challenging material. At another, that same A reflects minimal effort and lenient grading policies.
Admissions officers at Yale and Dartmouth found themselves unable to distinguish genuine achievement from grade inflation. Standardized tests emerged as the most reliable tool for cutting through the noise and identifying students truly prepared for elite academic environments.
Test-Optional Policies Favored Wealthy Students
Perhaps the most ironic finding drove Yale and Dartmouth’s decision: test-optional policies actually disadvantaged low-income students.
Photo by Wait. Wasn’t dropping test requirements supposed to help underserved students?
In theory, yes. In practice, the opposite happened. When test scores disappeared from applications, admissions committees shifted emphasis to other factors: extracurricular achievements, polished essays, demonstrated leadership, and impressive internships.
These subjective factors correlate far more strongly with family income than SAT scores ever did. Wealthy students can afford private college counselors, expensive summer programs, and extensive extracurricular opportunities. Low-income students typically cannot.
Meanwhile, high-performing students from under-resourced schools lost their best tool for proving they could compete with peers from elite prep schools. A strong SAT score had previously helped admissions officers identify talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds who deserved admission despite limited opportunities.
Yale and Dartmouth recognized this unintended consequence. Standardized tests, it turns out, actually level the playing field for talented low-income students.
Other Elite Schools May Follow Suit
Yale and Dartmouth aren’t alone in reconsidering test-optional policies.
Photo by Harvard has announced it will require the submission of standardized test scores, accepting either the SAT or ACT [Inside Higher].
Some universities never dropped testing requirements at all. MIT and Georgetown maintained that standardized tests serve important academic and equity functions. These schools argued that test scores help identify prepared students while providing opportunities for disadvantaged applicants to demonstrate their abilities.
Now other Ivy League schools are reviewing their own data. Harvard, Princeton, and Brown are examining whether test-optional admissions achieved their intended goals or created new problems. Early indications suggest similar patterns across institutions: tests predict success better than grades, and wealthy students gained unexpected advantages under test-optional systems.
The dominoes may continue falling. More than 2,000 colleges remain test-optional [NACAC], but the trend among elite universities points clearly toward reinstatement.
What This Means for College Applicants
For students targeting selective colleges, the message is clear: standardized tests matter again.
High school juniors and sophomores might consider planning to take the SAT or ACT, dedicating time to preparation and taking the test at least twice. Students who take the SAT twice typically improve scores by 40 to 70 points, a margin that can make real differences in competitive admissions.
The good news? Preparation resources have never been more accessible. Khan Academy offers free SAT preparation, and fee waivers cover test registration costs for eligible students. These resources help ensure financial barriers don’t prevent talented students from showcasing their abilities.
Strategic test preparation is once again important for admission to elite universities. But this isn’t necessarily bad news. For students willing to put in the work, strong test scores provide a powerful way to demonstrate academic readiness, regardless of their high school’s reputation or their family’s income.
Yale and Dartmouth reinstated SAT requirements because data proved standardized tests predict college success better than inflated grades, and test-optional policies unexpectedly disadvantaged the low-income students they aimed to help. For students considering selective colleges, early SAT preparation, practice tests, and free resources like Khan Academy can help demonstrate academic readiness. The return of standardized testing reflects a pragmatic recognition that objective measures serve both academic standards and genuine equity better than subjective alternatives alone.
