Colleges That Require SAT Subject Tests

Whether a college requires that applicants submit SAT Subject Test results or not, students should absolutely submit their (hopefully great) scores!

Many highly selective colleges do not require applicants to submit SAT Subject Test scores. But don’t be fooled. With admission rates at many highly selective colleges at or below 10%, what a college requires and what a college actually wants to see can be two entirely different things. Think about it like this: highly selective colleges don’t want to discourage applicants from applying. The more students who apply, invariably the lower the school’s admission rate will be and the better the university will be ranked by “US News & World Report.” If you don’t think that colleges care about their “US News” ranking, perhaps we can convince you that the Tooth Fairy is real. Just because a college doesn’t require students to submit SAT scores doesn’t mean they’re going to look to admit a student who doesn’t submit scores. If all else is equal, a student with great SAT Subject Test scores will always beat the student with no SAT Subject Tests — a red flag if you will.

Colleges That Require SAT Subject Tests

Thanks to Cigus Vanni, an executive board member of the New Jersey Association for College Admission Counseling, we’ve got a list of schools shared with permission that require the submission of these exams. And now that our readers know the word ‘required’ is somewhat silly when it comes to earning admission to America’s most elite universities, they know to take this list with six grains of salt and a touch of pepper.

These schools require SAT Subject Tests from every applicant, irrespective of whether or not students submitted any other standardized test results:

California Institute of Technology

Harvey Mudd College

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Webb Institute (of Naval Architecture)

These schools require SAT Subject Tests from every applicant, with exception to applicants who can’t afford to take the exams or if the applicant feels he or she can be fairly evaluated without them (which we think is super silly of course!):

Harvard University

These schools require SAT Subject Tests from every applicants only if they submit an SAT — not if they submit an ACT:

Tufts University (not required from BFA applicants to SMFA program)

These schools require SAT Subject Tests from some applicants, irrespective of which other testing results they’ve submitted:

Cooper Union (for engineering applicants only)

Cornell University (for applicants to the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering)

Northwestern University (three required only for students applying to Integrated Science and Engineering Program)

And these schools that recently required the submission of SAT Subject Tests no longer require them (but again that which is required is irrelevant — if applicants want to get in, we strongly suggest submitting great SAT Subject Test scores!):

Brown University

Carnegie Mellon University

Wellesley College

Rice University

Have a question on colleges that require SAT Subject Tests? Let us know your question by posting it below. We look forward to hearing from you.