The Ivy League Test-Optional Era Is Over: What Class of 2030 Applicants Need to Know

Princeton just announced it's requiring SAT or ACT scores again, starting with students applying for fall 2027. That makes every Ivy except Columbia officially back to required testing.

If you're a high school sophomore or junior, this is the news you've been quietly hoping wasn't coming. The test-optional window that opened in 2020 is closing. And the most selective schools are leading the way out.

The Quick Rundown: Who's Requiring What

For students applying to enter college in fall 2027 (Class of 2030 high schoolers), here's where the Ivies stand:

• Princeton: SAT or ACT required, as of the new announcement

• Harvard: SAT or ACT required (returned for the Class of 2029)

• Yale: SAT or ACT required (returned for the Class of 2029)

• Dartmouth: SAT or ACT required (first Ivy to return, for the Class of 2028)

• Brown: SAT or ACT required (returned for the Class of 2029)

• Cornell: SAT or ACT required (returned for the Class of 2029)

• UPenn: SAT or ACT required (returned for the Class of 2029)

• Columbia: Still test-optional (the only Ivy holdout)

And it's not just the Ivies. MIT, Caltech, Georgetown, and Stanford all require scores. The University of Texas at Austin is back. Cornell. Brown. The list of selective schools quietly walking back test-optional gets longer every admissions cycle.

Why This Happened

The official reasoning from most of the schools is some version of "the data showed test scores helped us identify talented students from under-resourced backgrounds." Translated: when applicants didn't submit scores, the schools couldn't reliably tell which kids were academically prepared, and the early evidence suggested some students were getting in based on inflated grades and were struggling once they arrived.

The unofficial reasoning, which the schools are less eager to say out loud: test-optional made admissions decisions harder, not easier. Without scores, every other part of the application got more weight, including the parts that correlate most strongly with family income (essays polished by paid coaches, extracurriculars that require time and money, recommendation letters from teachers at well-resourced schools).

Standardized tests aren't perfect. But the alternative turned out to be worse for the kinds of students test-optional was supposed to help.

What This Means If You're Currently in 10th or 11th Grade

You need a real testing plan. Not "I'll take it once and see how it goes." A plan.

The realistic timeline for a junior right now:

1. Take a full practice SAT or ACT before the end of sophomore year. Free practice tests on Khan Academy (SAT) and act.org (ACT) work fine. This is your baseline.

2. Pick the test you score better on. Most students do meaningfully better on one or the other. Don't prep for both.

3. Plan to take the official test twice. First sitting fall of junior year, second sitting spring of junior year, with at least 8 to 12 weeks of prep before each. If you're happy after the first, you're done.

4. Keep summer between junior and senior year open for a third sitting if needed.

What "good enough" looks like: at the Ivies, the 25th percentile SAT score is typically around 1500. The 75th percentile is around 1570. If you're below 1500, you can still get in, but the rest of your application needs to be exceptional. If you're above 1570, scores stop being the deciding factor and everything else becomes more important.

For the ACT, the equivalent range at the Ivies is roughly 34 to 36.

If You're Already Strong Academically, This Is Probably Good News

Here's the part most students don't want to hear: standardized tests are easier to prep for than essays, extracurriculars, or your high school GPA. You can't retake junior year. You can retake the SAT.

If you have the time, focus, and access to prep materials, a few months of serious study can move your score significantly. The same is rarely true for any other part of your application.

A high score also gives admissions officers an objective signal that's hard to argue with. A 1560 from a kid at a public school they've never heard of carries the same weight as a 1560 from a kid at Phillips Exeter. That's the rare part of the application where the playing field is actually level.

What About the 80% of Colleges Still Test-Optional?

Most U.S. colleges, including the majority of large state universities, are still test-optional. If your dream school is a less-selective public university or a smaller liberal arts college, scores might genuinely not matter for you.

But here's the trick: even at test-optional schools, submitting a strong score almost always helps. Schools say "optional" but they still use scores when they get them. If you take the test and score well, send it. If you take it and score poorly, you genuinely can leave it off most applications.

The schools where scores actively hurt you if you submit a weak one are rare. Mostly you have full upside and limited downside by taking the test.

How TCM Reads This Going Forward

Our take, based on everything we're seeing: the test-optional era was a four-year experiment driven by COVID. It's ending faster than most people expected. By the Class of 2031, expect most selective private universities and a meaningful chunk of flagship publics to require scores again.

If you're a current junior or younger, take this as a signal. Build a testing plan now. Don't assume the school you want will still be test-optional by the time you apply.

For more on what individual Ivies are looking for, check our university pages on Princeton, Harvard, and Yale. Each has its own admissions philosophy, and "required testing" looks different at each school depending on what they weight most in the rest of the application.

The Bottom Line

The Ivies aren't test-optional anymore. Most selective schools are following. If you're in 10th or 11th grade, you need a real SAT or ACT plan, not a wait-and-see strategy.

The good news: this part of the application is also the most controllable. With time, prep, and a clear target score, you can move the needle on this in a way you can't move the needle on most other parts of your application. Get started.