The reinstatements have been announced one at a time over two years, and they do not all start in the same cycle. What matters is not who has announced a requirement — it is what applies to the cycle you are applying in.
By PrepScore · Checked against sources on · 9 sourced facts · Editorial standards
For the 2026-27 application cycle, six Ivy League universities require an SAT or ACT score — Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn and Yale. Columbia and Princeton do not: both have announced requirements that begin with the 2027-28 cycle, so 2026-27 is the last cycle either can be applied to without a score. Beyond the most selective universities the picture is unchanged: more than 90% of ranked four-year colleges remain test-optional for 2026.
Requires an SAT or ACT score for first-year applicants.
Requires an SAT or ACT score for first-year applicants.
Requires an SAT or ACT score for first-year applicants.
Requires an SAT or ACT score for first-year applicants.
Requires an SAT or ACT score for first-year applicants.
Requires an SAT or ACT score for first-year applicants.
More than 90% remain test-optional for the 2026 admissions cycle.
Those six are requirements you cannot apply around this cycle. Stanford, MIT, Caltech and Johns Hopkins, along with the public systems in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee, also require scores.
Will require a score from the 2027-28 cycle. Test-optional for students enrolling in fall 2026 and fall 2027. Announced October 2025 after a five-year review of test-optional data.
Will require a score from the 2027-28 cycle. Columbia College and Columbia Engineering both stay test-optional for the 2026-27 cycle. Announced June 2026 — the last Ivy to reinstate.
Columbia and Princeton are frequently listed as "requiring the SAT" with no cycle attached. Both are test-optional for 2026-27. If you are applying this cycle, a score is optional at both — and 2026-27 is the last cycle where that is true.
For what a competitive score actually looks like, see average SAT scores and the SAT score chart.
Every row above links to the source it was read from, with the date. Admissions policies change between cycles and sometimes mid-cycle — for any school on your list, the university's own admissions page is the only authority.
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For the 2026-27 cycle, yes at six of the eight: Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn and Yale. Columbia and Princeton remain test-optional for this cycle and begin requiring scores in 2027-28.
It is over at the most selective universities and unchanged nearly everywhere else. More than 90% of ranked four-year colleges are still test-optional for the 2026 cycle.
If the score is at or above the school's published middle 50%, submitting generally helps. Test-optional means no penalty for withholding, not that a strong score is ignored.
From the 2027-28 admission cycle, announced in June 2026. Columbia College and Columbia Engineering are both test-optional for 2026-27.
Policies change between cycles and sometimes within one. For anything you are relying on, the issuing body’s own page is the authority — every source above links to it.