As many colleges and universities remain test-optional and others — like Penn — revert to old policies, high school students are dazed in the wake of the 2024-25 college application cycle.
Nearly all Ivy League schools have brought back mandatory test score submissions as part of the application process, with the exception of Columbia University and Princeton University. Although Penn remained test-optional throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the University announced in February that prospective students are once again required to submit SAT or ACT scores as part of their applications.
“[T]esting complements a student’s existing accomplishments and can offer additional relevant information in our comprehensive and holistic admission process,” the University said.
Penn’s reinstatement of this policy removed the uncertainty of whether or not applicants should submit scores. However, students are still often confused and frustrated with the college process and application review.
2025 North Penn High School graduate Emma Catanance said that she did not submit her SAT scores to the colleges she applied to, adding that her grades and other parts of her application were the best representation of who she was as a student.
“The SAT only focuses on certain subjects. But I feel like for me and a lot of other people and students, you do better in classes and learning,” Catanance said. “You can do really good on assignments and in class, but when the exam comes, you choke. One score doesn’t show who you are as a student.”
While some students appreciated the test-optional policy, other students felt overwhelmed when they viewed the average SAT score for a certain school — because only the students with the highest scores were submitting them.
“The average [SAT score] has increased because the people who are submitting scores are submitting top scores,” Plymouth Whitemarsh High School senior Kennedy Dingle said. “That pressure is a little higher because now we want to get our scores up there.”
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There has also been debate over the equity of the SATs. Students from affluent families can often afford high quality tutors and resources aiming to help them improve their scores, while students who come from poverty typically attain lower scores, especially in reading. According to a study by Harvard University researchers, the wealthiest 1% of students are 13 times more likely to score highly on the SATs than low-income students.
Some students with lower GPAs prefer to submit their higher SAT scores to balance out their college applications, feeling that the test is a better representation of their academic abilities than their transcripts.
LaSalle College High School senior Brendan Romano added that both SAT scores and GPAs “show hard work, but in a different type of measurement.”
“I wouldn’t say I feel pressure to take the SAT, but I feel like I still definitely should. Even though most schools are test-optional, they are still looking at the scores,” Plymouth Whitemarsh High School senior Maya Cassidy said.
With students coming from private schools, charter schools, homeschooling, different states, curricula, academic rigor, and grading scales, it can be hard for college admission officers to compare students in an accurate way. So, even as most colleges went test-optional, the SAT remained a constant for students to be evaluated by.
“I am a firm believer in the SAT as a tool for college admissions to be able to compare student to student,” former Plymouth Whitemarsh High School educator and SAT tutor Joanne Pinner said. “There is no other way that I see for admissions counselors to be able to compare students on a level playing field.”
