Test Optional Isn't What You Think It Is
When test optional policies exploded across American colleges during the pandemic, a lot of families breathed a collective sigh of relief. No more Saturday mornings at a testing center. No more prep courses. No more agonizing over whether a 1280 would hurt more than it would help.
And for some students, that relief was entirely warranted.
But for many others — particularly high-achieving students applying to selective schools — test optional has become one of the most misunderstood and potentially costly policies in the modern college process. After nearly three decades inside high-performing schools and now working one-on-one with families navigating this landscape, I want to set the record straight.
Test optional does not mean tests do not matter. It means you have a choice about whether to submit them. And that choice has real strategic consequences that most families are not thinking about carefully enough.
What Test Optional Actually Means
When a college declares itself test optional, it is telling you that you will not be penalized for not submitting scores. Your application will be reviewed holistically without them. Admissions officers will not hold the absence of a score against you.
That is true. And it is genuinely good news for students whose scores do not reflect their ability or whose academic profile is strong enough to speak for itself without them.
But here is what test optional does not mean: it does not mean that scores have become irrelevant. It does not mean that students who submit strong scores are not at an advantage. And it absolutely does not mean that your student can skip testing entirely without thinking carefully about what that decision will cost them.
The Data That Should Make Every Parent Pay Attention
Here is something that does not get talked about enough. When colleges report their admitted student profiles — the middle 50 percent SAT and ACT ranges you see on their websites and in college guides — they are typically reporting only the scores of students who chose to submit them.
Think about that for a moment.
The students who submitted scores to selective schools are, by definition, the students who felt confident enough in their scores to send them. Which means the reported ranges are already skewed toward the higher end. Which means the bar is higher than it looks.
At many highly selective institutions, the majority of admitted students still submit test scores. At some schools that number is well above 60 or 70 percent. If your student is not submitting scores and most of the students they are competing against are, that is a meaningful asymmetry worth understanding.
When Not Submitting Makes Sense
I want to be balanced here because test optional, used correctly, is genuinely valuable.
If your student's scores fall meaningfully below the middle 50 percent range for a school — generally speaking, below the 25th percentile — submitting them is likely to hurt more than help. In that case, not submitting is the right strategic call, and the application needs to be exceptionally strong everywhere else to compensate.
If your student has documented testing challenges, a learning difference, or circumstances that legitimately affected their testing experience, not submitting is not only reasonable — it may be accompanied by a brief, well-framed explanation in the additional information section that actually strengthens the application.
And if your student is applying to schools where the culture genuinely de-emphasizes testing and where the admitted student profile reflects a wide range of submitted and non-submitted applications, not testing may be entirely fine.
When Not Submitting Is a Mistake
Here is where I see families go wrong, and I see it regularly.
A student with a 1350 SAT decides not to submit because they heard test optional means it does not matter. They are applying to schools where the middle 50 percent of submitted scores runs from 1400 to 1520. They have now removed one of the data points admissions officers use to evaluate academic preparation — and replaced it with nothing.
A student who never took the test at all because their parents assumed testing was no longer necessary applies to a school that has quietly returned to test required policies — yes, this is happening — and is now scrambling to find a test date with no preparation.
A high-achieving student with a 34 ACT decides not to submit because a friend told them it does not matter anymore. That 34 would have placed them comfortably within or above the middle 50 percent at every school on their list. Not submitting it was not a neutral decision. It was a missed opportunity.
The Landscape Is Shifting — Again
It is also worth knowing that the test optional era is not as settled as many families assume. Several highly selective schools have already returned to test required policies, including MIT, Yale, Dartmouth, and others. More are expected to follow. The landscape that existed two years ago is not the landscape that exists today, and the landscape today may not be the one that exists when your sophomore or freshman applies.
This is one of the many reasons why having someone who is actively tracking these changes — not just reading about them — makes a genuine difference in the college process.
So What Should Your Family Do?
My advice is consistent regardless of where a student falls academically: take the test. Take it seriously. Prepare for it thoughtfully. And then make a strategic, informed decision about whether to submit based on where the scores land relative to the schools on your list.
Testing when prepared and then choosing not to submit is a perfectly reasonable outcome. Never testing at all because you assumed it did not matter is a gamble I would not recommend any family take.
The students who navigate test optional policies most successfully are not the ones who ignore testing. They are the ones who understand exactly what the policy means, take the test with intention, and make a data-driven decision about submission that serves their specific list.
That is the kind of strategic thinking I bring to every family I work with. If you have questions about your student's testing strategy or where their scores stand relative to their college list, I would love to talk.
My line is always open.
📞 847-309-2777 📧 highperformaceacademics@gmail.com 🌐 www.highperformanceacademics.com
— Dr. Jill
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