Columbia, Cornell, UPenn, Harvard, & Others Remain Test-Optional

Updated: February 3, 2021 at 12:30 pm

When COVID-19 first hit the U.S. last year, it was only a matter of weeks before the first highly competitive schools began to implement temporary test-optional policies for the SAT and ACT. By late April, Cornell became the first of the Ivy League to do so. Princeton was the last hold-out of the Ivies, but finally suspended its test policy in June of 2020, tacking on the cancellation of their Early Action cycle as well.

As we draw nearer to the one-year anniversary of the first U.S. lockdowns, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, and UPenn and have announced that they are maintaining their test-optional policies for the 2021-22 cycle. In all likelihood, the rest of the Ivies will join them in short order, and we at Ivy Link suspect that test-optional will be the new normal from here on out.

Should your child still take the ACT and/or SAT?

Yes. Unequivocally, yes. As we wrote last year, these test-optional policies are somewhat disingenuous, particularly at highly-selective colleges. If another student at your child’s school or even in the same town has an identical academic profile, except that your child has a strong ACT or SAT score, guess what? Your child will get the seat. It’s about going above and beyond for competitive schools. Plus, students now know to plan ahead for test cancellations and other hurdles that will complicate getting scores. With that comes the expectation that students who are serious about attending one of these institutions will do whatever is within their power to sit for an ACT or SAT.

Students in 10th grade should start prepping now! This will provide time to really study these tests, hone skills and strategies, and maximize the possibility of a top score.

Students in 11th grade should be registered for several test dates all the way through summer 2021 in case of cancellations. Ideally, they will have already completed the tests, but many will have not.

Register here to take a diagnostic ACT or SAT with Ivy Link and receive a detailed score report from our experts.

Correction: February 3, 2021
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that, of the Ivy League schools, only Columbia, Cornell, and UPenn had renewed their test-optional policy for the 2021-22 admissions cycle.