Due to the ongoing pandemic, the majority of schools in the country have dropped their SAT/ ACT requirements and have gone test optional for the 2021 senior class. The University of California system, which includes schools such as UCLA and UCSD, already had plans to drop all testing requirements by 2025.

The plan to drop testing requirements included a four year plan in which the UC system would go test optional for the classes of 2021/2022, then go test blind for the classes of 2023/2024, and finally drop testing requirements altogether by 2025.

The UC system includes some of the most prestigious public universities in the nation such as UCLA and UC Berkeley. One could only assume that other schools will look at the UC schooling system as an inspiration to drop testing requirements. The main reason behind dropping testing requirements (besides Covid-19) would be the disadvantage that the tests have towards low-income/ disabled students.

Within the next few years it is expected that many more schools will follow suit and drop testing standards, but the question is, will the SAT/ ACT’s become a thing of the past? That’s a question that will have to be revisited a couple of years from now.

says:, Igor, et al. “UC versus the SAT, and What It Means.” The Berkeley Blog, 26 June 2020, blogs.berkeley.edu/2020/06/24/uc-versus-the-sat-policy-and-politics/.