Blog/What Schools Require SAT in 2026-27 (Verified List)
General路8 min read
What Schools Require SAT in 2026-27 (Verified List)
What schools require the SAT in 2026-27: required, test-optional, and UC test-free, verified 2026-09-16 against official pages.
Larry Learns Team
What schools require the SAT in the 2026-27 admissions cycle is a split, not a national rule. Some colleges again require SAT or ACT scores. Some are test-optional (you choose). The University of California is test-free system-wide, across all nine undergraduate campuses (they will not use a score in admissions even if you send one). Policies are by school and by entry term. Read the school's testing page for your year. The table below is the schools we verified on 2026-09-16, with each school's official page linked so you can check it yourself. Policies change between cycles, so open that URL in the week you submit.
The definitions of required, optional, and test-blind (the term some schools use for what UC calls test-free) live on what colleges require the SAT. This URL is the named-school table for 2026-27, verified 2026-09-16. Score ranges, when you already know you must send a number, live on each school's SAT/ACT score article.
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The University of California's Academic Senate is reviewing testing. As of the UC Academic Senate's published FAQ and the system FAQ, fall 2027 UC applicants are not required to submit SAT or ACT scores. Do not assume 2028 until the Regents vote. Source: UC Academic Senate review.
How to Use the Table Without Guessing
If the school is required, pick a test date you can actually enter. The next SAT dates after this update are October 3, 2026, November 7, 2026, and December 5, 2026. The next ACT dates are September 19, 2026 (registration closed), October 17, 2026, and December 12, 2026. Self-report vs official is school-specific. Stanford and Harvard will read a self-report and want official scores if you enroll. USC wants official scores during review if you choose to submit. UT Austin wants the agency file by a deadline. Read the spoke.
If the school is optional, a score in the school's published submitter range can still help. A score far below that range is often better left off. We do not print a fake cutoff here. Use the school's CDS mid-50% on its score page, then decide.
If the school is test-free, sending an SAT does not move the admission file. You can still take the SAT for other schools on the list. One test date can feed Stanford and be ignored by UCLA. That is the point of a split list.
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What This Page Will Not Do
It will not rank "best test-optional schools." It will not invent a 2028 UC policy. It will not replace College Board registration. For practice while you wait on a date, start a free practice set. The bank is 25,000+ questions on iPhone, Android, and the web with the same account. Free accounts get three quizzes a day, five questions by default. Ace at $19/month removes both daily caps.
How to Build a List That Does Not Fight Itself
Write three columns: required, optional, test-free. Put every campus in one column using that school's page, not a friend's memory. If any campus is required, you sit. The test-free campuses do not get a veto. If every campus is optional, sit only if you will send a number in range. If every campus is test-free, you can skip, and you should still check 2028 if you are a sophomore. The next SAT dates after this update are October 3, 2026, November 7, 2026, and December 5, 2026. Agency send day is the day you register, not the day before the school's material deadline. UT Austin's October 22 official-score clock is the tightest on this table. Stanford REA's October SAT clock is the other tight one. NYU's one-form rule is the menu trap. UC's test-free rule is the 'do not expect a secret read' trap. Re-read each spoke the week you hit submit. Policies move. We dated this table 2026-09-16. A counselor spreadsheet from 2024 is how people still think UCLA is test-optional. Print this table. Check the spoke the week you submit. If a school is not on this table, do not invent its policy from a forum. Open that school's testing URL.
Frequently Asked Questions About What Schools Require the SAT
What schools require the SAT in 2026-27?
Among the schools on this page: Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Cornell (first-year), Brown (first-year), Johns Hopkins (first-year), and UT Austin. Princeton is still optional for fall 2027 entry. NYU and USC are optional. UCLA and UC Berkeley are test-free.
Do all Ivy League schools require the SAT?
No. Princeton is test-optional for fall 2027 entry and required beginning fall 2028. This page verified five of the eight Ivies (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Brown). We have not verified Columbia, Penn or Dartmouth here, so check those on their own pages before you plan around them.
Do UC schools require the SAT?
No for fall 2027. UCLA and Berkeley will not use SAT or ACT scores in admissions. The system is reviewing testing; nothing changes for this cycle until the Regents say so.
If one school is test-free, should I skip the SAT?
Only if every school on your list is test-free. A required school on the same list still needs a test date.
Where do I confirm a policy?
The school's own testing URL, linked from each spoke. Policies move. We dated this table 2026-09-16.
