Top Tier Admissions
The ACT—like its counterpart, the SAT—has long served as a key indicator of academic readiness for college-bound students, despite the growing number of test-optional policies. As we move into the 2025 testing season, a year already marked by significant shifts in higher education, the ACT itself is also undergoing notable changes. It’s important for prospective […]
The rapidly changing landscape of higher education and the evolving challenges in college admissions have left many families feeling uncertain about what awaits their high schoolers after graduation. With shifts in policies around admissions practices, standardized testing, and institutional priorities, it can be difficult to determine what still holds weight in the college application process. […]
Policies regarding standardized testing in college admissions have shifted dramatically in recent years. Many schools adopted test-optional or test-blind policies for the SAT and ACT during the COVID-19 pandemic, and recently this has been followed by a return to test-required policies among Ivy League institutions and a general shift towards test-preferred admissions. Yet the value […]
The landscape of college admissions continues to shift as universities re-evaluate the role of standardized testing in the application process. In a major policy change, the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) has announced that it will reinstate its standardized testing requirement for the 2025-2026 admissions cycle. Meanwhile, Carleton College has chosen to permanently adopt a test-optional […]
The University of Miami has announced a significant policy update for prospective students. Starting with the Fall 2026 application cycle, undergraduate applicants will once again be required to submit standardized test scores (SAT or ACT) as part of their application. This marks a shift from the test-optional policy adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. […]
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