Gone are the days when students could just include a decent SAT score with their college application and call it a day. In the age of test optional applications, there is no one test score that will guarantee admission to any program. Instead, there are a wide variety of ways to look impressive depending on where you’re applying, and to what major.
Here’s a rough break down on the types of scores you might want to include based on where you’re applying:
1. For any major at a prestigious university or for exclusive programs within test-optional schools:
Many of the most elite colleges require a test of some kind. Some schools are test-required, meaning you have to include an SAT or ACT score, and some schools are test-flexible, meaning you can include any kind of standardized test score (including AP and IB) to qualify.
Similarly, there are some exclusive programs that are far more competitive than the school as a whole and may or may not require tests.
In either case, we strongly recommend taking a practice test of the SAT and ACT to determine which one you can improve on the most, and then taking that test at least twice to get a strong superscore for these competitive applications.
2. For general STEM programs:
Students who are strongest in math tend to do the best on the SAT, so that could be a great place to start looking for a great score that proves your math ability.
You may also want to consider that some colleges have more of an arts and design focus to their STEM programs and might be looking for STEM students who are well-rounded, out-of-the-box thinkers.
In these cases, having some solid AP Literature or AP Art History scores could help you stand out from the pack (and get you out of some non-required general education courses for your freshman year)!
3. Engineering and applied sciences:
There is a new version of the ACT arriving in the spring with an optional, revised science section that will focus much more on applied, external science knowledge (as opposed to now where it’s mostly statistics). Students who want to demonstrate those skills for their specific major could boost their application with a strong ACT, specifically a STEM score.
4. For general humanities and social sciences programs:
Students who are better at reading, perhaps in history or English class, tend to do better on the ACT (which will be changing slightly in spring of 2025!).
The Writing and Language score from your ACT could go a long way to getting you into the highest caliber freshman writing classes, and potentially even honors level classes, that could set you up well within our program. For test optional schools, good AP Literature, Language, Psychology, Economics, or US History (likely in a combination of two or more) could also do the trick.
Similar to STEM courses, social science courses are looking for students who can demonstrate complex thinking from a wider experience than just a single narrow specialty: Stand out from the crowd by also having AP scores in Calculus or Biology, or opting into the science section of the new ACT this spring and getting a very strong STEM score on that test as well.
5. For specialized arts programs:
It’s very likely that a test score will have very little to do with your admission into the specific arts program you are applying for – that will be determined entirely by your audition or your portfolio. However, strong test scores can go a long way to convince the school as a whole that you can also do well academically and deserve admission. Plus, they can help provide other scholarship opportunities if those few competitive fine arts scholarships get snatched up.
6. For Military Academies and ROTC programs:
SAT and/or ACT scores are required to apply to military programs, often with minimum score requirements that are far above average. They are also looking for students who have taken rigorous STEM courses in their high school career, so including as many AP science courses as possible definitely helps.
Not sure which major you’re applying for? Try listening to the “choosing a major” episode of the College Checklist podcast for some useful tips!
