Good news if your SAT score is not the number you wanted: at a long list of real schools it does not count for anything. Here are ten that are test optional for 2026, with the average scores of students who did send them.
Test optional colleges for 2026
| School | Average SAT (of those who submit) |
|---|---|
| UChicago | 1535 |
| Princeton | 1530 |
| NYU | 1510 |
| Northeastern | 1500 |
| USC | 1470 |
| Michigan | 1460 |
| Wake Forest | 1460 |
| Boston University | 1430 |
| Miami | 1390 |
| Fordham | 1380 |
Read that score column correctly
Those averages scare people for no reason. They describe the students who chose to send a score, which skews high by definition — the 1290s stayed quiet. Test optional means a low score cannot be held against you, because it is not in the file. It does not mean everyone admitted scored 1500.
The catch: some schools are taking it back
Test optional was a pandemic policy, and it is unwinding. MIT, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown, and Stanford already require scores again. Princeton and Columbia are in their final test-optional cycles and reinstate the requirement for 2027-28. If you are a year or two out, check the policy again before you apply — the list above is accurate for 2026 and nothing more.
The door where the SAT never comes up
Here is what almost nobody tells high schoolers sweating a retake: the test mostly stops existing once you have college credits. Most universities drop the requirement somewhere around 24 to 60 units because your actual college transcript is better evidence than a Saturday morning. The UC and CSU systems do not consider SAT scores for transfer applicants at all — your grades and your finished major prep courses are the whole application.
So a mediocre SAT closes fewer doors than it feels like. It closes some freshman doors. It closes almost no transfer doors, and the transfer door is often the wider one anyway.
Skip the test, plan the transfer.
Put in your community college and your dream university. That's it.
Get My Transfer PlanBottom line
Ten strong schools do not need your SAT in 2026, and a few are quietly putting the requirement back. If the score is the thing standing between you and a school you want, the transfer route sidesteps it almost entirely. Line up the classes that get you there and let your transcript do the talking.
Related: see the classes your major needs at your college · the three transfer application mistakes that get students rejected · the five easiest UCs to transfer into · what an articulation agreement is
