Test-Optional admissions pathways at US universities are on the rise! Though the advice about if this pathway is the best way forward continues to confuse students and schools alike. At Vela Education, we aim to provide the most up-to-date and transparent advice so you can make informed decisions when navigating the complex US university admissions process.

Vela Education’s expert advisors do know that strong scores on these tests will boost a student’s overall application. These two standardised tests are used to help evaluate candidates and compare them to each other. Thus, we do recommend taking a diagnostic test and determining if you have the time to study. If so, taking at least one official exam is in a student’s best interested. Based on this result, consult an expert US university advisor about how to proceed. Based on this initial test and your goal schools, a Vela Education advisor will let you know if this score would be an asset to your overall applicant profile.

However, if students learn through the diagnostic and test prep process that the SAT or ACT does not help their application, Vela Education is prepared to help them apply test-optional to selective US universities. There are many excellent schools that have test-optional or test-flexible policies.

However, test-optional admissions requires a thoughtfully curated application list and it also means you should consider an early application pathway.

When choosing your test-optional schools, you need to decipher if the school has a proactive or reactive test-optional policy.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, there were many outstanding schools with test-optional pathways. Including, but not limited to The University of Chicago, Wesleyan University, Wake Forest, NYU, Northeastern, and Bowdoin College.  We also encourage students to visit the Fair Test website to review all the schools with test-optional policies. What is most important is to determine if this is a permanent policy or a short-term reaction to the Covid pandemic. Whenever possible, Vela Education advisors recommend applying test-optional to schools that have permanent policies. Permanent test-optional policies reflect years of thoughtful discussions and training for the admissions staff. These policies are authentic and students should feel comfortable using them.

Of course, the Covid-19 pandemic encouraged most US schools to adopt test-optional policies. Many of these schools, Including Harvard, Cornell, and Swarthmore among others, have extended these test-optional policies until 2025. That is encouraging and suggests these schools want more data before they make a final decision about test-optional admissions. Yet, it also reveals they are not certain test-optional admissions is right for their school. Vela Education recommends using these short-term test optional pathways with caution!

When applying test-optional to a highly selective US universities, we do recommend that you apply early. If a school has an ED1 or ED2 policy, this means they use these pathways to recruit a committed cohort of students. ED 1 and ED2 provide a strategic advantage when applying with testing. However, these pathways are strongly recommended when applying without testing. If you want a school to overlook a missing data point, you need to give them something in return—such as committing legally to a particular school.

Vela Education is happy to help all students through the US university application process. If you are interested in test-optional admissions, please consider a scheduling a strategic consultation. We are here to help.