Which top colleges require test scores again this year

A growing list of selective schools has ended test-optional admissions. Check each school's profile before you decide whether to sit the SAT.

Admissions · CollegeStudent.com editors · September 1, 2026

Several highly selective colleges — including MIT, Dartmouth, Yale, Brown, Harvard, Cornell, Penn, Stanford and Georgetown — now require SAT or ACT scores for first-year applicants. Others remain test-optional, and the University of California system does not consider scores at all.

Because policies differ by school and change year to year, treat every profile's admissions section as the source of truth and confirm on the college's own site before you apply.

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