Carl Churchill, Douglas Belkin:
Colleges are rethinking test-optional admissions.
After a pandemic-era push to stop requiring standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT, some schools are bringing them back. Others are under pressure to do so. Here are five things to know about what’s happening with the SATs.
Most schools are test-optional, but lots of students still take the SAT
For years, the SAT was the gold standard of college-admission exams. Today, about 90% of colleges don’t require the SAT or ACT, according to FairTest, which advocates against the exams.
Even though most schools don’t require them, admissions officers often use submitted scores to assess candidates. The number of people taking the SAT has risen in recent years.