With the test optional landscape having been around since 2020, the question of when or if to submit your SAT or ACT scores to colleges has been asked time and again. Generally speaking, colleges that have opted to go test optional have seen the number of applications increase as students with less-than-stellar test scores perhaps feel they have a better chance of admission without scores than with them.

The other reality is that some colleges are looking to increase their statistics for ranking purposes, as higher rankings improve application numbers, so having a higher SAT or ACT score can be a definite plus from the admissions office’s perspective. But does applying without a test score signal that you scored poorly on the SAT or ACT?

Not necessarily. Many students have a variety of reasons for not taking the test: they don’t feel like they’re good test takers already. They might not have the resources or time to hire tutors or study extensively to perform well on the test. They might not even have the ability to take the test—as they need half a Saturday, and the means to travel to the testing site, which is sometimes 50+ miles away.

In light of these realities, we’ll talk about two ways to look at whether or not your student should submit their test scores, and I’ll explain why the answer is likely yes.

Philosophy 1: The Middle 50% & Superscoring

Let’s get two quick definitions out of the way:

• Middle 50%: this is the range of SAT and ACT scores that many colleges report, rather than the average. Averages can be skewed by outliers and are therefore a less useful data point. The “middle 50%” range tells us what the score of the 25th percentile of applicants was, and what the score of the 75th percentile of applicants was. So if your student scores a 33 on the ACT, and Dartmouth’s middle 50% is 32–35, then your student’s score falls somewhere between the 25th and 75th percentile of students who were admitted with test scores. If they score a 36, they’re in the top 25% of admits with test scores; a 31 would put them in the bottom 25%.

• Superscore: a superscore is a combination of subscores from multiple SAT or ACT tests. You might have scored highly in English one time, and highly in Math another time. A superscore will combine your high English score and your high Math score to create a new score, even though you did well on those areas on two different tests. The chart below will illustrate the idea.

So here you would have a 1500 superscore, even though your highest single-test score is a 1480.

Most colleges will superscore test results, so sending in more than one score can be useful if your student has them. This is often a good reason for submitting more than just 1 set of test scores, and it can be a compelling reason to send scores in the first place. But what about this “middle 50%” business?

Some people believe that, if your SAT or ACT scores fall below a college’s middle 50%, you should not submit those scores. This partly has to do with colleges not wanting to lower their statistics for ranking purposes. US News & World Report considers average GPA, as well as standardized test scores as two of the factors in where a college falls in their rankings. So students and families worry that submitting scores below the middle 50% will hurt their application because the college won’t want to lower their statistics by admitting their student.

So, the wisdom goes, families should look at the middle 50% of scores for each school and then decide whether or not to send the scores on a school-by-school basis depending on where your student’s scores fall. But there’s a problem: with test optional admissions, fewer students are submitting test scores. And using this logic of “only submit your scores if they’re in or near the upper quartile,” only the highest scores get submitted. This causes that middle 50% to creep higher and higher, but the sample size of test takers shrinks.

A college’s middle 50% for 2022 might be 1500–1580, but that score might only represent 35% of applicants because everyone else elected not to submit a score. You might even wonder if your student should apply to that school at all! Had all admitted students submitted scores, perhaps the class’s middle 50% might have been 50–100 points lower. But you’ll never know.

Using the middle 50% as a barometer is a recipe for stress, anxiety, and decision fatigue. Not to mention it puts additional pressure on the student to get the highest possible score (or superscore) so they can submit their scores to more schools. I propose thinking about test scores another way.

Philosophy 2: Put Scores in Context

The vast majority of colleges in the United States practice holistic admissions. They look at GPA, what classes your student took, their extracurriculars, essays, letters of recommendation, work history (if they have had a job), and, yes, their SAT and ACT scores.

But notice all the other pieces in the puzzle? Test scores are just one of them. I suggest that families look at test scores the way colleges do, as just one piece of the puzzle. What matters is not the middle 50% of any one college, but how your student’s SAT or ACT scores fit with the rest of their application. This puts the focus back on your student, and not on the college. It will also result in the answer to the question “do I submit my scores?” being the same for every school your student applies to. So long as the college is not test blind (like the University of California or California State University systems).

I encourage students and parents to ask this question when looking at SAT or ACT scores: will the score make my application stronger or weaker?

Perhaps the score itself is not in the top 25% for a college, that’s fine. If your Math or English grades are a bit weak, but you scored well on the SAT or ACT, that can go a long way toward demonstrating your student’s ability, even if your student’s scores are not in that coveted top 25%. 

Maybe your student scored a 710 in SAT Math and a 730 in English (this score puts your student in the top 5% of all SAT test takers nationally, by the way), but they earned a B- in second-semester Algebra II and a B in Honors English 10? Those high SAT scores might show an admissions officer that your student can perform in Math and English, even though they perhaps had less-than-stellar grades. Maybe the teachers assigned a lot of homework, the teacher did not like your student’s writing style, or perhaps your student just didn’t understand the teachers’ tests? Is it worth robbing an admissions officer or application reader of that context just because the score might not be in their upper quartile?

On the other hand, perhaps your student did not sleep well prior to the test, or there was a family tragedy the day before. Your student couldn’t focus and scored poorly. They don’t have the time to take the test again because of sports, work, or other obligations. If your student’s GPA is above a college’s average admitted GPA, and they have taken a number of AP classes and scored decently on AP tests, perhaps that score does not represent their academic potential. In which case, why submit it, even if it is in the middle 50%? That puzzle piece does not fit well with the rest of the pieces in your student’s record.

Summary

So, should your student submit their SAT or ACT scores to their colleges? Only if the answer to the question: will the score make my application stronger or weaker? is, “it will make my application stronger.” Think about it as one of many aspects of the application. The score can demonstrate student knowledge or ability and supplement grades. Or they can complement a high GPA. Even with amazing grades, if your student feels like they performed well on the test, but their scores are lower than the top 25% of a college’s scores, they can submit those scores.

Having test scores can demonstrate a willingness to go above and beyond, even if they aren’t as outstanding as the student’s GPA. And generally speaking, colleges are looking for reasons to admit students, not reasons to reject them. But either way, a single test taken on a random Saturday will not outweigh a student’s performance in school over the course of 1–4 years. So don’t fall into the trap of analyzing the data and trying to theorize your way through the process on a school-by-school basis. You’ll drive yourself crazy.

Consider your student’s score holistically, like colleges do. If it adds to your student’s overall profile in a constructive way, then submit the score. If the GPA and AP/IB performance is already present and the scores have nothing to add, then don’t bother submitting them, regardless of what the middle 50% is.

Do you want help to manage the stress of college applications and to get the context to help you make clear, better decisions about your child’s admissions journey? Book a consultation today. We love getting to know students and their families so that we can help them succeed.