Over 1,800 US universities no longer require SAT or ACT scores. Find the best test-optional schools for your profile.
Find Your Matches FreeTest-optional means you can choose whether to submit SAT or ACT scores with your application. If your scores strengthen your application, submit them. If not, the school will evaluate you based on GPA, essays, extracurriculars, and other factors.
Consider going test-optional if:
Consider submitting scores if they are at or above the school's 50th percentile.
Admit Coach identifies test-optional schools in our 3,500+ university database and adjusts your admission chance estimates based on whether you choose to submit scores. Enter your profile — with or without test scores — to see personalized recommendations.
Harvard, Columbia, and others extended test-optional policies. Holistic review weighs GPA, essays, and ECs more heavily.
Many top liberal arts colleges — Bowdoin, Bates, Wesleyan — have been test-optional for years.
Large state systems like the UC system, Oregon, and Colorado are test-free or test-optional.
Even some engineering-focused schools now offer test-optional admission, though scores can strengthen STEM applications.
These nationally-ranked US universities are test-optional, test-free, or test-blind for the 2025–26 cycle. Click any school for its full profile and a free admission-chance estimate.
Data from IPEDS & College Scorecard. Browse all 3,500+ universities →
More than 1,800 accredited US universities are test-optional, test-free, or test-blind for the 2025–26 cycle. That includes most of the Ivy League, hundreds of public universities, and nearly all top liberal arts colleges. Test-optional means you choose whether to submit SAT or ACT scores. Admit Coach tracks the testing policy for all 3,500+ schools in its database and adjusts your admission-chance estimate based on whether you submit scores.
Submit your scores if they are at or above the school's median (about the 50th percentile), and withhold them if they fall below the 25th percentile. For example, if a school's middle 50% is 1300–1450 and you scored 1200, going test-optional usually helps. Admit Coach compares your scores against each school's real IPEDS score ranges and tells you, school by school, whether submitting is likely to help or hurt.
Test-optional colleges genuinely evaluate applications without scores, weighing GPA, essays, recommendations, and extracurriculars more heavily. Test-blind and test-free schools (more than 70 of them) go further and will not look at scores even if submitted. Only test-optional schools consider scores you choose to send. Admit Coach labels each school's exact policy so you know how your 3.8 GPA or 1250 SAT will actually be used.
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