Yale Cancels Requirements for Subject Tests -- But Not SAT or ACT -- for Class of 2025
Yale has joined a growing cohort of universities who have altered their admissions policies in the wake of COVID-19. At this time, the only significant change is that students do not have to submit SAT Subject Tests as part of their application. See below for additional details.
SAT and ACT: No change here. According to the Yale, “At this time, we expect there will be sufficient opportunities for all applicants to complete the ACT or SAT before the next admissions deadlines.” As we reported recently, although the College Board has canceled March, May and June test dates, the College Board will be offering additional test dates and options in August. The ACT canceled its April test date, but the June test administration is still on as of the date of this writing. There will be additional ACT administrations in Fall 2020. Yale’s position is that applicants will have had sufficient testing opportunities, and the implication is that SAT and ACT scores are still important.
Subject Tests: As mentioned above, Yale’s only major change is to suspend its requirement for the Subject Tests. Moreover, the university emphasizes that students who have already taken SAT Subject Tests should not self-report. Any SAT Subject Test scores submitted will not be shared with the Admissions Committee. In other words, don’t bother taking the Subject Tests if you are applying to Yale this Fall, and if you’ve taken the Subject Tests, Yale will not look at the scores. However, it is important to note that other highly selective colleges like Harvard will still consider your Subject Test scores!
AP, IB, and AICE Exams: Reporting is optional, and Yale does not expect students currently enrolled in such courses to complete the respective exams for 2020. However, Yale recommends that applicants “who have completed any of these exams and who feel that their results demonstrate strength in specific academic areas may want to self-report those scores”. Yale emphasizes that these tests are optional, but Ivy Link students know that high scores on AP and similar exams can only help strengthen your application. In fact, Yale states that “exam results will be considered as one component among many of a whole-person review process”.
Ivy Link strongly encourages our students to submit scores from these tests if available. As we’ve discussed in a previous post, not only will these scores potentially increase a student’s chances of acceptance, but it’s also worth taking advantage of the college course credits. We also recommend that our students take the AP Exams this year in particular because the changes due to COVID-19 will likely benefit most test-takers.
We expect to hear more announcements like this on a regular basis, so be sure to check back in to get the latest on the impact of COVID-19 on admissions policies and standardized testing. Yale’s full announcement can be found on its COVID-19 page.
