In June 2020, after the death of George Floyd, Princeton University got rid of standardized-test requirements for applicants, such as the requirement that students submit SAT or ACT scores. But that resulted in a less qualified student body.
So on October 9, Princeton University announced that it will once again require undergraduate applicants to submit standardized test scores, starting with the 2027–28 admissions cycle.
“First-year and transfer applicants seeking to enroll in fall 2028 will need to submit either SAT or ACT scores,” Princeton said. It will also continue to consider students’ grades and extracurricular activities. “Standardized testing is just one element of the University’s comprehensive and holistic application review. There are no minimum test score requirements for admission. All information in each student’s application is considered,” Princeton says.
The College Fix notes that “the move comes after a five-year review of data from the test-optional period, which showed that students who submitted test scores generally performed better academically at Princeton than those who did not….Several other Ivy League schools have also announced in recent years that they will reinstate standardized testing requirements.”
Princeton is following in the path of several other Ivy League schools. In 2024, Yale University, Dartmouth College, and Brown University “brought back the requirement after they had ditched it in part by arguing the tests advance systemic race inequity,” reported The College Fix.
As Yale University noted, “research from before and after the pandemic has consistently demonstrated that, among all application components, test scores are the single greatest predictor of a student’s future Yale grades.” In short, “testing complements a student’s existing accomplishments and can offer additional relevant information in our comprehensive and holistic admission process.”
In February, the University of Pennsylvania announced it would once again consider standardized test results in admissions, after University of Pennsylvania researchers found that considering both standardized test scores and grades does a better job in predicting student success than only considering grades.
Reacting to colleges’ decisions, Jeremy Wayne Tate, the founder of the Classic Learning Test, observes that “after a few years of being test-optional, colleges have discovered that GPA alone is inadequate to predict college success. Grading varies wildly between different schools whereas a standardized test allows colleges to compare apples to apples.”
On the other hand, woke progressives have sought to get rid of standardized tests in admissions, resulting in some medical schools dropping the MCAT, reported The Daily Caller:
A developing medical school trend to ditch the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) requirement may not bode well for the future of the profession, medical watchdog group Do No Harm told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Approximately 40 medical schools across the country have dropped the MCAT, a multiple choice exam that determines an individual’s ability to problem solve, think critically, and understand concepts about medical study, as a requirement for some applying students…Do No Harm alleged that dropping the requirement is another way schools aim to bolster diversity on campus but asserted that it is a “dangerous trend,” according to its analysis.
“The MCAT has been shown to predict who has the best chance to be successful in medical school,” Do No Harm Program Manager Laura Morgan told the DCNF. “Eliminating it removes a proven standard for schools to consider when admitting students who demonstrate the aptitude to be good doctors.”
