Yale and Princeton Extend Test-Optional

Yale University and Princeton University, the last two holdouts, have joined the party in the Ivy League by extending their test-optional admisisons policies through at least fall of 2023. That’s right. Each and every one of the eight Ivy League schools — in addition to the vast majority of highly selective universities — will remain test-optional through next year…if not longer. As we said when Harvard University extended its test-optional admissions policy, where Harvard goes the rest tend to follow. Yale and Princeton have now followed along like their other Ivy League peers.

Yale’s admissions office states on its website, “In response to the ongoing disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, Yale will extend its test-optional admissions policy for an additional year. All applicants for undergraduate admission for fall 2023 enrollment may apply with or without ACT or SAT scores. Applicants who have successfully completed one or more ACT or SAT exams should consider including scores, even if those scores are below the middle 50% ranges listed below. Yale’s internal research has consistently shown that ACT and SAT scores are a significant predictor of a student’s undergraduate academic performance. When students include scores with their applications, the Yale Admissions Committee evaluates them within each student’s unique context and uses them to augment other academic indicators throughout the application.”

Princeton’s admissions office states on its website, “The Princeton University Office of Undergraduate Admission continues to assess the effects the pandemic has had on teaching and learning in secondary schools around the world – particularly the inconsistencies created in classrooms due to the uncertainty of in-person instruction. As a result, we will continue to operate in a test optional environment for first-year applicants applying during the 2022-23 cycle for Princeton’s Class of 2027. Students who opt to apply to Princeton without an ACT or SAT will not be at a disadvantage in our process. We will continue with a holistic evaluation of each application and will continue to assess testing requirements for students applying after next year’s cycle.”

Now, loyal readers of Ivy Coach’s college admissions blog know that admissions officers at our nation’s elite universities often don’t tell it like it is. They say they’re need-blind? And water is dry. They say it doesn’t matter if you demonstrate interest? And ice cubes are hot. They say it doesn’t matter if you submit test scores. Nonsense! And sometimes you don’t even have to read between the lines. After all, Yale is basically urging students who have taken the SAT or ACT to submit their scores when the admissions committe writes, “Applicants who have successfully completed one or more ACT or SAT exams should consider including scores, even if those scores are below the middle 50% ranges listed below…” Read this line again. And again before choosing not to submit an SAT or ACT score to Yale or to any highly selective university.