As of October 2026. Every number below is sourced; the list is at the end.
Usually yes, if the score helps your child. Most families now get to choose: in federal data for 2023, 1,263 of the 1,396 four-year colleges that report a policy are test-optional. Where colleges publish their own numbers, students who sent a score were admitted more often than those who sent none: 1.9 times higher at USC, 3.2 times higher at Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences.
"Optional" describes the checkbox, not the outcome
Test-optional means your child's application is complete without a score. It does not mean a score counts for nothing. Two different promises; colleges only make the first.
A few schools publish two shares: the share of applicants who sent a score, and the share of admits who did. Far apart, and you can see which way the reading went.
| College | Applicants who submitted | Admits who submitted | Submitter advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cornell Arts & Sciences (fall 2023) | 24% | 50% | 3.2x |
| Notre Dame (Class of 2026, early round) | 54% | 70% | 2.0x |
| USC (Class of 2028) | 36% | 51% | 1.9x |
| Vanderbilt (Class of 2025) | 56.3% | 61.1% | 1.2x |
Those class years belong to the colleges, not to your high school. A college's Class of 2028 is the group that started there in fall 2024.
The multiple is what those shares imply: how much more likely a submitter was to be admitted. Not a model. Each college's own count.
One honest caveat. Students who submit are not a random group. The strong ones submit, so part of that gap is the students, not the score. None of it points the other way.
The scores families hide are often the ones that would have helped
Dartmouth studied its test-optional years and put the requirement back on February 5, 2024. It said so plainly: "a 1400 SAT score from an applicant whose high school has an SAT mean of 1000 gives us valuable information." The students leaving that box blank were often the ones a score would have lifted. They had heard 1400 was not an Ivy score. Against their own high school, it was.
Twenty-three well-known colleges have now reinstated a requirement after studying their results: Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Yale, Caltech, UT Austin, and Cornell starting with fall 2026. We keep each college's current policy on Reach's test-score pages; the research behind it is here.
So decide college by college
There is no one answer, because there is no one policy. In that same count, 101 colleges require a score and 32 — including every UC and CSU campus — do not look at one at all. If your child's list is UC and CSU only, a score cannot help the application. It can still help the money: roughly half of all scholarships are tied to a GPA and an ACT or SAT score.
Elsewhere, use the college's own band as a yardstick. The middle half of USC's enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT scored 1440 to 1550 (federal data, 2023). In the band or above it, send the score. Well below it, leave it out. The band describes enrolled students who submitted, not admitted students — a guide, never a cutoff.
When it is close, submit.
Pick dates that leave room
Two sittings beat one, and the calendar decides whether you get two.
For early action or early decision, the October SAT and the September ACT are the last dates that arrive in time. December works for regular decision.
There are no good or bad scores. There are only scores that will help you reach your goals.
The move
Have your child sit one full SAT and one full ACT this month, then pick the better fit and give it 6 to 12 weeks of work on the whole exam, not one section. Take the real score, line it up against each college's band, and submit where it helps. Our mock SAT and ACT are free — book one there or call 949.229.5359.
Questions parents ask
If a college says scores are optional, can leaving them out hurt my child?
The application is still complete without a score, but at colleges that publish both shares, admitted students submitted far more often than applicants did — 50% of Cornell Arts & Sciences admits versus 24% of its applicants in fall 2023.
How do I know if my child's score is good enough to send?
Compare it to the college's published band. The middle half of USC's enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT scored 1440 to 1550 in 2023. Send a score in or above that range; leave out a score well below it.
Does a score matter if my child is only applying to UC and CSU?
Not for the application itself — those 32 campuses do not consider scores at all. A score can still matter for merit money, since roughly half of all scholarships are tied to a GPA and an ACT or SAT score.
Written by Nick Standlea, founder of Test Prep Gurus. Updated October 2026.
Sources
- Reach — Do test scores still matter? — https://highschoolreach.com/research/do-test-scores-still-matter
- Reach — college test-score policies and bands — https://highschoolreach.com/test-scores
- Dartmouth Office of the President — Reactivating the SAT/ACT requirement for Dartmouth undergraduate admissions (February 5, 2024) — https://president.dartmouth.edu/news/2024/02/reactivating-satact-requirement-dartmouth-undergraduate-admissions
- Reach college page — University of Southern California — https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/university-of-southern-california
- Test Prep Gurus — frequently asked questions — https://www.prepgurus.com/frequently-asked-questions
- Test Prep Gurus — Nick Standlea, “Testing: What Changed and Who Should Test?”, IUSD College Fair presentation, October 5, 2026 (Test Prep Gurus’ own guidance)