The dominoes keep on falling. Yale University has become the latest Ivy League institution to go test-optional for applicants to the Class of 2025. Students seeking admission to Yale’s incoming class will thus not be required to submit SAT or ACT scores. As our readers may remember, just a couple of weeks back, Yale dropped SAT Subject Tests. But unlike with the SAT Subject Tests in which Yale announced that applicants should neither self-report nor send as they will not be considered, Yale will allow applicants to the Class of 2025 to submit SAT or ACT scores if they so wish. So, basically, Yale’s SAT Subject Test policy passes our muster, while it’s test-optional SAT / ACT policy does not. In short, the SAT Subject Test decision is a legitimate change to Yale’s admissions policy while the SAT / ACT change smells like Yale’s PR machine to us. As we have long asserted, test-optional policies aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. So long as applicants can still submit SAT and ACT scores, these scores will still carry weight.

As announced by Yale News in a piece entitled “Yale announces test-optional policy for 2020-2021 undergraduate admissions cycle,” “In response to the widespread disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Yale Office of Undergraduate Admissions will temporarily suspend its requirement that first-year applicants submit results from the ACT or SAT. The change will be in effect during the 2020-2021 admissions cycle for applicants to the Class of 2025. Applicants who are unable to complete an exam or who choose not to report exam scores will not be disadvantaged in the selection process. As announced previously, SAT Subject Tests will not be considered during the 2020-2021 admissions cycle. This one-year policy change reflects the extraordinary circumstances that students, families, and educators are currently facing. This policy applies only to students graduating from secondary school in the 2020-2021 academic year. Transfer applicants and students who intend to apply for admission to enroll in fall 2022 or later should plan to complete the ACT or SAT by the appropriate deadlines.”

Have a question about Yale’s decision to go test-optional for the Class of 2025? Curious why Yale will not consider the submission of SAT Subject Tests for next year’s applicants but the school will consider SAT / ACT scores? Let us know your questions by posting below. We look forward to hearing from you!