SAT or ACT for fall 2027: which US colleges require scores

Testing policies for fall 2027 entry

Each college sets its own rule. This table shows the policy each one publishes for students applying in the 2026–27 cycle to start in fall 2027. Some testing pages don’t name a cycle but describe a continuing policy, so check each college’s page before you apply.

What the policies mean

• Required: you must send SAT or ACT scores. A few required colleges accept other exams in particular situations (see below).
• Test-optional: you decide whether to send scores. Princeton says applicants without an ACT or SAT score won’t be at a disadvantage, Columbia that they won’t be disadvantaged, and USC that they won’t be penalised.
• Test flexible: at Carnegie Mellon’s College of Engineering, Dietrich College, Heinz College Information Systems, Mellon College of Science and Tepper School of Business, you must send test scores but choose which kind. The SAT, ACT, AP, IB, Cambridge A-levels and the French Baccalaureate all count, and for IB, A-levels and the Baccalaureate, predicted or actual results.
• Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science requires the SAT or ACT. Its College of Fine Arts is test-optional and asks for portfolios or auditions.

Policies that are changing

• Princeton stays test-optional for fall 2027 entry. Applicants for fall 2028 will need to send SAT or ACT scores.
• Columbia stays test-optional for the 2026–27 cycle and brings back a testing requirement from August 2027, for the 2027–28 cycle.
• Yale changed for 2026–27. It used to let AP or IB scores meet its requirement; now only the ACT or SAT will do.

If you’ll apply for fall 2028 entry, plan for the Princeton and Columbia changes now.

If you study outside the US

Harvard, Yale, Penn and Duke all say the same testing rules apply to international applicants. A few details matter if your school is outside the US:

• Other exams instead: Dartmouth lets students at high schools outside the US meet its requirement with the SAT or ACT, three AP exam scores, IB Diploma exam scores, A-level exam scores or final national exam scores. Harvard accepts AP, IB, GCSE/A-level or externally assessed national leaving exam results only in exceptional cases, when the SAT and ACT aren’t accessible.
• English tests don’t count: Harvard, Yale and Stanford all say English proficiency tests can’t replace the SAT or ACT. Harvard names the TOEFL, IELTS and Duolingo.
• School-leaving exams as well: Georgetown needs projected or final results from systems with final exams, such as A-levels, the IB or the French Baccalaureate, as well as the SAT or ACT. Columbia, though test-optional, requires any exam results needed to complete and graduate from your secondary school. Stanford requires British-system students to have a school official send their GCSE results and predicted A-levels.
• Extra results you can report: MIT asks you to self-report exams you’ve taken or plan to take, such as AP, IB, A-levels or the Baccalauréat. Princeton recommends self-reporting AP or IB scores, Duke considers AP and IB scores if you report them, and Michigan considers AP, IB and other international results in context either way.
• If you can’t get to a test: Penn waives its requirement if you explain a hardship such as no test centre nearby, financial hardship, natural disaster or civil unrest. Georgetown can accept applications without scores in exceptional cases where you physically can’t reach a test centre. Brown’s president described its exception as the rare case when the tests aren’t available to a student.

Applying to the University of California? The UC guide covers how UC treats the SAT and ACT.

SAT dates and registration deadlines

College Board says its dates apply to all students, in the US and internationally, and that registration deadlines end at 11:59pm US Eastern Time.

College Board says additional fees may apply to late registration. Check which test dates each college accepts for your deadline before you book.

ACT dates outside the US

ACT says its non-US test dates are for all countries outside the US, US territories and Puerto Rico. Its schedule doesn’t print a time zone for these deadlines.

For the December test, the photo upload deadline is also Friday 27 November 2026.