Within the next three months, the College Board will be administering the current version of the SAT three more times. Then we can all stop debating about which version to take! Until the end of January, however, every high school junior and perhaps even sophomore has a choice to make: take the current SAT or skip it?
Of course, the primary reason any high school student takes the SAT is for college admissions purposes. As a result, any decision should depend upon whether colleges will accept the current SAT or require the new one. Fortunately, our friend and colleague Jona Jacobson of jj College Admission Advising spends a lot of time talking to colleges. I asked her for insight into the test policies of many of the most popular schools for students in our area.
Who will require scores from the new SAT?
Based on current established policies, very few colleges will require students in the high school class of 2017 to submit new SAT scores. Virginia Tech is perhaps the most notable exception. A rumor was floating around that RIT was going to also require new SAT scores, but admissions has confirmed that they WILL still accept the scores from the current SAT next year.
Who will accept scores from the current SAT?
Just about every school will accept current SAT scores from students in the class of 2017 and perhaps even 2018. We’ve received confirmation from the following schools:
[row]
[one_half_column]Boston University
Brown
Case Western
Dartmouth
DePauw
Earlham
Elon
Fairfield
Fordham
Hamilton
Harvard
Johns Hopkins
Lawrence
Marymount Manhattan
MIT[/one_half_column]
[one_half_column]
Northwestern
Princeton
Skidmore
Tufts
University of Miami (FL)
University of Michigan
University of Pennsylvania
University of Rochester
University of South Carolina (will require all scores)
University of Vermont
University of Virginia
Wagner College
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
Yale[/one_half_column]
[/row]
Who is still undecided?
Schools that defer their decisions much longer deny prospective applicants the guidance needed to make informed decisions. Unfortunately, as of November 2015, popular schools like Colgate, Cornell, and Pitt fall into this category.
Note that the schools above simply represent a cross-section of schools across the country. During this dynamic period of change, your best strategy is always to contact a school directly to learn their current score policies.
Also keep in mind that no school we’ve spoken to requires only the SAT. As far as we know, every college will accept the ACT in place of either SAT. Considering how minor the recent ACT changes are compared to those on the SAT, this is excellent news. The ACT remains a strong choice for all college-bound students.
We will, of course, continue to monitor this situation closely. If you have specific questions regarding schools on this list or college admissions in general, Jona Jacobson is a font of expert knowledge!
Mike Bergin