Well, hello munchkins!

Your dream schools have made some strategic decisions. A little birdie from Ithaca whispers that Cornell is suspending its SAT/ACT requirements for students applying this fall. Harvard, on the other hand, has stated that “you will not be disadvantaged in any way if you do not submit subject tests. Similarly, you will not be disadvantaged if you are unable to submit AP results.”

Does this mean you should stop preparing for the upcoming SAT/ACT exam in June … July … August … whenever they are? Absolutely not! Hate to spoil the fun but many colleges, including Princeton and Penn, expect applicants to furnish standardized testing results. While you will not be penalized for obtaining a low score; standardized testing won’t be leaving without a fight.

We know what you’re thinking: THIS DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!

Why should you prepare for the SAT/ACT exam if most institutions—from Boston University to the University of California—have adopted an “optional-testing” policy?

For starters, most doesn’t mean all. Universities such as Dartmouth, Yale, and Stanford are yet to take a call on their testing requirements. Moreover, as the CollegeBoard and ACT gear up for administering online versions of their respective tests, universities may just rescind their “optional-testing” policy.

But enough about contingencies, let’s look at the hard facts. What happens when you submit a low score or turn towards the “no-disclosure” highway? Sure, the universities won’t ask you to justify your performance or choice, but they’d certainly fill the void by vigorously scrutinizing every other aspect of your application. Cornell, for instance, stated:“Cornell readers will consider with increased scrutiny their (candidate’s) other application documents, looking for different evidence of excellent academic preparation … Applicants with no test results might more often be asked after review has begun for additional evidence of continuing preparation.”

So, should you continue preparing for the SAT/ACT exam? Yes, of course.

What does this mean for the future of standardized testing? Well, that’s hard to predict!

While the trend of doing away with testing requirements first emerged in 2018, it has acquired a peculiar virality amidst this pandemic. Often criticized for their elitism, the credibility of the SAT/ACT exams has been heavily scrutinized in the public domain. The coronavirus, however, has opened a window of opportunity for universities to assess whether standardized testing is a worthwhile criterion for measuring an applicant’s ability to succeed in college. This “temporary” suspension, therefore, can drive revolutionary changes in American higher education.

As we wait and watch, stay hydrated, keep fit, and knock those Princeton Review practice tests out of the park!