Breaking News: Cornell Reinstates Standardized Testing

Cornell will reintroduce standardized testing requirements for undergraduate admissions starting in fall 2026, based on findings from a university Task Force on Standardized Testing in Admissions and pressure from peer institutions.

Most recently, Harvard reversed course in an April 11 announcement that it would require students applying for fall 2025 admission to submit either an SAT or ACT score. Other Ivy League institutions, including Dartmouth College, Yale University, and Brown University, have also recently announced they would require standardized test scores again, effective for the Class of 2029.

Cornell’s announcement came with a “Summary of Key Findings” from its Task Force that includes data to support its decision and conclusion that “it does not appear that the shift in Cornell’s testing policy has played a major role in diversifying first year students by race/ethnicity/citizenship, first generation status, or family income.”

THE FUTURE OF CORNELL’S TESTING POLICY SET

For the upcoming admissions cycle for enrollment in fall 2025, Cornell remains test-optional to the College of Arts and Sciences, Cornell Engineering, the College of Human Ecology, the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and the School of Industrial and Labor Relations but encourages applicants to submit SAT and/or ACT scores. Certain colleges (the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, and the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, which includes both Dyson [applied economics and management] and Nolan [hotel administration]) will remain score-free for one more year.

Effective for fall 2026 and beyond, all applicants to Cornell’s eight undergraduate colleges must submit standardized test scores.

THE LINK BETWEEN ACADEMIC SUCCESS AND TEST SCORES

Analysis since 2020 indicates that test scores, along with other application materials, offer valuable insights into an applicant’s potential for academic success at Cornell. Last year, 53%  of enrolling students submitted test scores.

Provost Michael I. Kotlikoff states that requiring test scores actually promotes access to students from diverse backgrounds: “While it may seem counterintuitive, considering these test scores actually promotes access to students from a wider range of backgrounds and circumstances. Our analysis indicates that instituting the testing requirement likely enhances, rather than diminishes, our ability to identify and admit qualified students.”

Cornell’s data confirmed that students’ guessing game about whether to submit their scores needs to end: students are often unable to understand context to determine whether submitting a score is “strategic.” Indeed, Cornell’s survey data shows that although self-reported test scores of students who did not submit official SAT scores for the admissions process were lower than those who did submit, some applicants with perfect and near perfect scores did not submit them.

The summary also confirmed the link between academic success and test scores, noting that “those who were admitted without test scores tended to have somewhat weaker semester GPAs, were more likely to fall out of “good academic standing,” and that “the gap in first semester GPA has remained consistent for all three years of new admits.”

Cornell emphasizes that it will consider many factors beyond test scores in the holistic admissions process to assess academic preparedness and student contributions to its vision of inclusivity.

CORNELL REINSTATES THE SAT: THE TOP TIER TEAM WEIGHS IN

Heidi Steinmetz Lovette, Top Tier Admissions Senior Private Counselor and former Assistant Director of Admissions at Cornell University’s College of Arts & Sciences shares her thoughts:

Only a handful of U.S. colleges have so many qualified applicants that they can afford to be unconcerned about the likelihood of declining application numbers resulting from required standardized testing. Yesterday, Cornell joined Dartmouth, Yale, Brown, and Harvard – when it ended its internal experiment with test optional vs score free admissions policies introduced during the pandemic. Cornell reinstated required standardized testing for all of its 8 colleges (currently 4 colleges are score free and 4 are test optional) but has given students more time than the other Ivies to prepare for the change, which will impact current high school sophomores. It is important to note, however, that the 4 test optional colleges have become “test recommended” for the intervening admissions cycle.

TEST-RECOMMENDED?

What does “test-recommended” really mean? Dr. Eliza Fox, Top Tier Admissions Senior Private Counselor notes:

It’s interesting to see Cornell bridging the gap between the test-optional policies for Fall 2024 and the test-required policies for Fall 2026 with “test-recommended” policies for Fall 2025 at several colleges (the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Engineering, the College of Human Ecology, the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, and the School of Industrial and Labor Relations). At Top Tier, we encourage unhooked students — that is, students who are not athletic recruits, development candidates, first-generation college students, or legacies — to read “test-recommended” as “test-required,” as students who apply to these colleges without SAT or ACT scores on record will face low odds of admission.

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