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SAT Discontinues Subject Tests And Optional Essay

Elissa Nadworny

Eda Uzunlar

Updated at 5:03 p.m. ET

The College Board announced on Tuesday that it will discontinue the optional essay component of the SAT and that it will no longer offer subject tests in U.S. history, languages and math, among other topics. The organization, which administers the college entrance exam in addition to several other tests, including Advanced Placement exams, will instead focus efforts on a new digital version of the SAT.

In the announcement, the organization cited the coronavirus pandemic for these changes: "The pandemic accelerated a process already underway at the College Board to reduce and simplify demands on students."

College entrance exams have had a hard go of it during the pandemic. Many in-person testing dates for the SAT were canceled because of social distancing needs and closed high school buildings; a previous digital version of the SAT was scrapped in June after technical difficulties; and hundreds of colleges have removed the exam from admissions requirements , in some cases permanently.

Few colleges require the optional writing portion of the SAT or the subject tests, though students can still submit them to supplement their college applications. The AP exams have become far more important in demonstrating mastery of subjects and, in some cases, providing college credit.

The Coronavirus Crisis

Colleges are backing off sat, act scores — but the exams will be hard to shake.

"Removing the subject tests can remove a barrier for students," says Ashley L. Bennett, director of college counseling at KIPP Sunnyside High School in Houston. But, she adds, "I believe that standardized testing in general needs to be less emphasized in the college search process."

Elizabeth Heaton advises families about college admissions at College Coach in Watertown, Mass. She thinks the changes could help put some students on a more level playing field. "For students who aren't getting great advising, it is nice to see that they haven't been eliminated from competition just by virtue of not having a test that they may not have known about."

But Catalina Cifuentes, who works to promote college access in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles, has reservations. She worries that removing the SAT subject tests will create more barriers for her students, rather than less.

"Hundreds of my students take the subject tests in Spanish and other languages because it provides them an opportunity to show their understanding of a second language," explains Cifuentes.

Many of her students speak a second language at home and would be the first in their family to go to college.

She says her college-bound students often enroll in the University of California and California State University systems, which both require two years of coursework in another language for admission. The SAT foreign-language tests sometimes filled that requirement, but the removal of these exams means Cifuentes will have to shift gears.

"We will need to work closely with our world language teachers to expand on ideas ... for students who already read, write and speak another language," she says.

Her job is all about helping school districts adapt to decisions from colleges and organizations like the College Board, Cifuentes explains.

"Every decision they discuss — there's real repercussions. There's no right or wrong decision, but with everything they do, it should be students first."

Eda Uzunlar is an intern on NPR's Education Desk.

Correction Jan. 20, 2021

A previous version of this story misspelled Ashley L. Bennett's name.

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Retooling During Pandemic, the SAT Will Drop Essay and Subject Tests

By dropping or suspending the requirement that applicants submit standardized test scores, colleges have cut into the College Board’s business model.

By Anemona Hartocollis ,  Kate Taylor and Stephanie Saul

In the latest sign of trouble for the standardized testing empire that has played a major role in college applications for millions of students, the organization that produces the SAT said on Tuesday that it would scrap subject tests and the optional essay section , further scrambling the admissions process.

The move comes as the testing industry has been battered by questions about equity and troubled by logistical and financial challenges during the coronavirus pandemic.

Critics saw the changes not as an attempt to streamline the test-taking process for students, as the College Board portrayed the decision, but as a way of placing greater importance on Advanced Placement tests, which the board also produces, as a way for the organization to remain relevant and financially viable.

“The SAT and the subject exams are dying products on their last breaths, and I’m sure the costs of administering them are substantial,” said Jon Boeckenstedt, the vice provost for enrollment management at Oregon State University.

The main SAT, taken by generations of high school students applying to college, consists of two sections, one for math and the other for reading and writing. But since at least the 1960s, students have also had the option of taking subject tests to show their mastery of subjects like history, languages and chemistry. Colleges often use the tests to determine where to place students for freshman courses, especially in the sciences and languages.

But the College Board said the subject tests have been eclipsed by the rise of Advanced Placement exams. At one point, A.P. courses were seen as the province of elite schools, but the board said on Tuesday that “the expanded reach of A.P. and its widespread availability for low-income students and students of color means the subject tests are no longer necessary.”

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SAT Subject Tests + Essay Discontinued: How This Impacts College Admissions

What’s covered:.

• Major Changes to the SAT
• Reasons for These Changes
• How This Will Impact the 2020-2021 Admissions Cycle
• Which Students Will This Negatively Impact?
• How Can Students Compensate?

On January 19, 2021, the College Board announced some major changes to the SAT. Here’s a summary of these changes and a deep dive into how they’ll impact college admissions. 

Major Changes to the SAT 

Sat subject tests are discontinued.

SAT Subject Tests will no longer be offered to domestic students, effective immediately. There will still be two more administrations in May and June 2021 for international students. 

Domestic students will have their registration canceled automatically, and they will be refunded.

The College Board states that Subject Tests no longer offer the same value as they once did, as AP exams are now more widely available and cover a greater range of subjects. Eliminating the Subject Tests will also open up seats to students who need to take the SAT (and haven’t had the chance to do so during the pandemic).

Colleges that used to require SAT Subject Tests will decide how to adjust their policy going forward.

The SAT Essay is Discontinued

For similar reasons, the SAT Essay is also no longer offered after June 2021. Only students in select states will have access, if they’re taking the SAT through the SAT School Day program.

Students registered for the Essay in Spring 2021 will have the option to cancel the essay at no extra cost.

The College Board recognizes that there are many other opportunities for students to demonstrate their writing abilities, such as the college essays. The SAT will continue to evaluate writing and editing skills through the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing sections, which are “among the most effective and predictive parts” of the test.

There Will Eventually Be a Fully-Digital SAT

The College Board is making “substantial investments” in developing a digital test, likely encouraged by the pandemic and the difficulty it posed to testing in-person. They state that they will release further details this spring.

Reasons Behind These Changes

Finances and accessibility.

For the College Board, this move is all about finances. Replacing the SAT Subject Tests with AP exams reduces costs. More importantly, it increases revenue because the College Board charges around $30 per SAT Subject Test versus $95 per AP exam. 

By removing Subject Tests, the College Board can save money in administering and scoring the exams, and reduce the operational complexity that goes into setting up testing spaces. Getting rid of the SAT’s essay component makes the test completely multiple-choice, meaning the grading can now be completely automated, and the company saves even more money by not having to pay essay scorers. 

Growing concerns about the SAT catering to more privileged and affluent students may also have factored into this decision. Getting rid of these additional testing requirements may increase perceived accessibility in standardized testing, though students also have unequal access to AP exams. 

The Decline of Subject Tests

Furthermore, SAT Subject Tests were already on the decline. The number of test-takers peaked at 300,000 in 2011, but in recent years, it’s dropped to around 200,000 students. Most universities have eliminated Subject Test requirements, either making the Subject Tests optional or not considering scores at all. Overall, Subject Tests have played less and less of a role in admissions every year, except at the 50-60 most selective colleges in the country. 

The purpose of Subject Tests was to provide another dimension along which colleges could compare applicants. However, top applicants to selective colleges almost always had a score of 750+, usually on multiple exams, so they became less of a competitive advantage and more of a requirement. In addition, the language Subject Tests were mainly being taken by native speakers, which didn’t give colleges helpful information in making admissions decisions, so colleges started to discount strong scores on those exams 

It had reached the point where not taking the Subject Tests could hurt students’ chances of admission, but there was essentially no advantage to having those high scores.

The Redundancy of the SAT Essay

The SAT Essay similarly decreased in importance in the admissions process. On the old version of the SAT (the 2400 point version), the essay used to factor into your overall Writing score. This meant you needed a good score on the essay in order to have a strong Writing score, and a strong SAT score overall. 

Now that the essay is no longer a part of the overall SAT score (on the 1600 point scale), colleges have been giving it less and less weight in the admissions process. The same is true for the ACT essay, and the ACT might end up cancelling its essay section for similar reasons. 

Furthermore, colleges have many other opportunities to evaluate your writing, namely through college essays. Some schools such as Princeton have also started asking for a graded paper as part of the application.

How will this affect the 2021-2022 admissions cycle?

This new policy is going to have a major effect on the 2021-2022 admissions cycle, impacting current juniors and younger students. Due to the pandemic, most universities went test optional or test-blind for the SAT Subject Tests in 2020-2021, meaning they would not require Subject Test scores in the application, and some wouldn’t even consider them if submitted. Given this announcement from the College Board, our projection is that most schools will probably extend these policies moving forward.

Unfortunately if you already have strong SAT Subject Test scores, this means you probably won’t receive much of a boost from them during this admissions cycle.

One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of special programs at colleges do require SAT Subject Tests. These include guaranteed admission medical programs (BS/MD programs) and Honors colleges. If you’re interested in these types of programs, you’ll need to keep close track of their specific policies. Consider reaching out to the program in a couple of months to see where they’re at in terms of accepting and considering Subject Test scores. Some programs might ask for AP score or minimum grades in specific courses in lieu of Subject Tests. 

Which students will this negatively impact?

This policy could potentially harm applicants who were banking on high Subject Test scores to give them a competitive advantage. 

If you are homeschooled or attend a school that doesn’t offer AP classes or has an unknown or uncommon course system, the lack of Subject Tests could affect your application negatively. Subject Tests traditionally provide a standardized metric that helps admissions officers compare students from these backgrounds to the larger applicant pool. However, this method of comparison is now gone, making it harder for applicants in these situations to easily be sized up in the admissions process. 

Similarly, this change may hurt you if your extracurricular profile doesn’t match up with your area of interest in academics, and you plan on relying on Subject Tests to demonstrate your ability in a specific field. Others have used Subject tests to make up for poor grades in a course or even to compensate for a weaker overall GPA. Now that the Subject Test advantage is gone, if you’re in these positions will have to compensate in other areas of their application.

How can students compensate?

With this new policy in mind, AP exams, SAT scores, and essays will now all play a slightly bigger role in the decisions process.

The main alternative to Subject Tests will be AP (or IB) tests, which can showcase expertise in a subject area on a national, standardized scale similar to Subject Tests. The Biology, Chemistry, Physics, U.S. History, and World History AP exams all test at about the same level as their Subject Test counterparts. That said, the tests have different formats, and APs have free response and other question styles while the Subject Tests were multiple choice. But, the material itself is essentially the same. 

However, not all Subject Tests have an AP test equivalent. For instance, the AP Literature exams test at a higher level than the Literature subject test, and has an essay component as well. Similarly, the Math I and II exams cover high school material, from Algebra 2 through Precalculus. The AP math tests, Calc AB, BC, and Statistics, don’t really include Precalculus, and have additional material, meaning they’re not directly comparable. 

For languages, AP tests have a Japanese, German, French, Latin, Italian, Chinese, and two different Spanish exams. This more or less lines up with the Subject Tests, although there is no comparable AP exam for Modern Hebrew and Korean.

Outside of math and literature, you’re not missing out on too much as long as you take the AP exams. However, the stakes will ramp up for AP scores and you’ll want mostly 5’s with minimal 4’s to be competitive at top schools that have historically placed importance on Subject Tests. 

The SAT itself will also carry more weight, so you might want to consider doubling down on increasing your score. 

Furthermore, admissions profiles for super selective schools now have one less data point, so there’s going to be an increase in the importance of the subjective elements of your application. This is largely driven by your essays — so expending extra effort on this portion of your application could help alleviate the lost advantage from Subject Tests. 

If you’re a future college applicant, know that we are in unprecedented times and these policy changes are probably the first of many to come. As you craft your admissions profile, it is important to stay informed about any changes and consider how they might impact you. Stay tuned to CollegeVine on our blog and livestreams , where we’re constantly working to research and interpret the most up-to-date data in our admissions tips to help demystify the admissions process. 

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

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Why the college board is dropping the sat subject tests and optional essay.

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An answer sheet and a pencil are seen on a table (Photo by Rasit Aydogan/Anadolu Agency/Getty ... [+] Images)

When the College Board announced it would no longer offer SAT Subject Tests and the optional SAT essay, it framed the changes as student-centered and equity-driven. It said the changes were a way to “simplify our work and reduce demands on students.” However, according to Bob Schaeffer, interim Executive Director of FairTest , “The College Board is simply acknowledging the economically inevitable.” 

The Board also, as is now par for the course in all College Board announcements, touted the benefits of the AP program as an alternative to the Subject Tests. Compass Prep, the California-based test prep company that first leaked the changes wrote “So was this a compassionate act aimed at simplifying the lives of students? Or was this a pragmatic decision to cut one’s worst losses? It was both.”  

The SAT Subject Tests, which were called Achievement Tests in the 1990s and SAT IIs in the 2000s, were long overdue to be cancelled. Fewer and fewer colleges have required the exams in recent years. Some universities like MIT , that required the tests long after peer universities stopped doing so, no longer consider the tests. Prior to the pandemic, fewer than 5 colleges required Subject Tests for admissions and 12 colleges recommended them. The number of students taking the tests plunged in response to colleges’ policy changes. Some subjects, such as modern Hebrew with only 305, have only a few hundred test takers each year. Since 2010, the number of Subject Tests administered has decreased by about 45%. 

When there are drops in demand, high cost of production, and questions about quality, businesses typically revamp their product lines. The College Board is technically a non-profit organization but operates very much like a corporation that has to protect investors. 

Facing criticism for the cheating scandals , a huge growth in colleges adopting test optional policies , and increasing cost of maintaining 20 different subject tests, it follows that the College Board would discontinue the products with the least viable future. 

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Many in the high school community will celebrate the removal of an additional barrier to college admission, no matter what the motivation. Esperanza Borrero, associate director of college counseling at the The Masters School, an independent 5 - 12 school in Westchester, NY said, “The subject exams were already a dying practice with only a few colleges breathing air into their lungs (we all know who you are…) and as a college counselor I only saw them as barriers put in front of candidates, especially if they were from an underrepresented groups or an international students.” 

The discontinuation of the optional essay on the SAT should also not be a surprise to observers of college admissions. The essay was first added to the SAT in 2005 after the University of California system threatened to stop requiring the SAT and instead use only the SAT Subject Test, which it found to be better predictors of college success. The latest change to the SAT may again be largely attributed to announced changes at the University of California, which in 2020 said that it would stop considering the SAT or ACT in admissions . 

The SAT essay was never fully embraced by colleges. When the essay was a required part of the SAT and included in the overall score, from 2005 to 2016, many colleges simply ignored that portion of the score. Even Georgetown University, which is somewhat notorious for its testing requirements, has never considered either the SAT or ACT essays in admission. And from its introduction to today the essay has lost rather than gained favor in admissions offices. 

Much like with the SAT Subject Tests, student practices follow college policies. In 2017, when more colleges required the essay, 70% of SAT test takers took the optional essay. In 2019 - 2020, that number dropped to 57%. The discontinuation of the SAT essay is again a smart strategy for a product that has lost favor. 

Raquel Maysonet-Sigler, School Counselor at Brooklyn Technical High School, a selective public high school with 6,000 students, was excited to hear of the change, saying “SAT or ACT, Subject Tests, AP tests – it’s a testing company dream but a parent and student nightmare. Dropping these tests will be great for students.”

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On January 19th, College Board announced a few significant updates in regards to its SAT Suite of Assessments, including the elimination of the optional essay portion of the SAT and the discontinuance of the SAT Subject Tests (SAT II tests). Let’s take a look at these changes and how they might affect students’ plans for the spring of 2021 and beyond.

In the release, College Board announced that the optional essay will be discontinued from the SAT following the June 2021 test date, with the exception of school day administrations in states which require the essay for evaluative purposes. Students currently registered to take the exam with essay between now and June will have the option to cancel the essay portion via their online account with no change fees up until the test’s registration deadline. In their statement, College Board observed: “This decision recognizes that there are other ways for students to demonstrate their mastery of essay writing. At the same time, writing remains essential to college readiness, and the SAT will continue to measure writing and editing skills.”

Although the vast majority of colleges no longer require (or even recommend, in many cases) students to submit SAT Essay scores, it is somewhat unclear what effect College Board’s announcement will have on the few schools that still utilize the essay portion of the exam in the admission process. Ultimately, the best advice for students and families is likely to check with any colleges they are interested in to see what they recommend, but it seems likely that the SAT essay will not play any role in college admissions for any students in the class of 2022 and beyond.

As a tutor aware of the pressures facing students preparing for the test, I see the announcement as a welcome change. The removal of the optional essay, which was only valued by a small number of schools and did not contribute to students’ overall composite score out of 1600, does offer many benefits to students preparing for the SAT. In addition to reducing the cost of the exam by $15, it shortens the already lengthy test by nearly an hour, which may allow students to devote more energy and focus to the four primary sections (Reading, Writing and Language, No-Calculator Math, and Calculator Math) which contribute to their overall score. Additionally, it allows students to allocate more study time towards other endeavors, whether those be further test prep, academic coursework, extracurricular activities, or even developing a stronger college admissions essay.

College Board Will No Longer Offer SAT Subject Tests

College Board also announced its discontinuation of the SAT Subject Tests, also known as SAT II tests, effective immediately in the U.S. and beginning June 2021 internationally. U.S students registered to take SAT Subject tests in this spring will have their registrations cancelled automatically and their registration fees refunded. Because the SAT Subject Tests are often used for a wider variety of purposes internationally, College Board will offer two final administrations of the exam to international students in May and June of 2021. As to how this might affect the applications of students who already took any SAT Subject Tests, College Board states:

We’ve reached out to our member colleges, and they’ll decide whether and how to consider students’ Subject Test scores. Students should check colleges’ websites for the most up-to-date information on their application policies.

Ultimately, this probably will not have a large role on the college admissions process for most schools . As of the time of the announcement, very few schools recommended students submit SAT Subject Test scores, and while each college is free to decide how to handle scores from previous administrations of the test and what effect this may have on its admission policies, it is rare for a college to alter its admissions policy in a way which penalizes a student for events that are beyond their control. 

College Board attributes its decision to discontinue the tests to the widespread availability of its AP testing, which they consider to render SAT Subject Tests as unnecessary in demonstrating students’ academic knowledge. Both AP exams and SAT Subject Tests are designed as content specific, supplemental exams which allow students to demonstrate their proficiency and interest in specific subjects, and both differ significantly from the standard SAT in their reliance on students’ prior knowledge and comprehension rather than on critical analysis and general problem solving ability. However, there are also some key differences students may wish to be aware of when deciding how to alter their test prep in absence of the SAT Subject Tests . Firstly, because AP exams offer students opportunities to earn valuable college credits, the level of rigor on the exams is closer to that of a first-year college course than to the high school curriculum covered on the SAT Subject Tests . Additionally, there are several key differences in the structure and scoring of the exams:

While the long term effects that these changes might have on students currently preparing for the exams of spring 2021 and beyond remain to be seen, understanding their immediate effects can help students develop effective plans and ease concerns. Additionally, the cancellation of the SAT Subject tests will likely allow schools to offer a greater number of seats to students seeking to register for the SAT this spring.

 I would encourage any students or families with questions or concerns to reach out to their guidance counselor or a test prep professional to discuss how this impacts their current plans.

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What were SAT Subject Tests?

College Board

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SAT Subject Tests ™  were standardized college admission tests in specific subjects. Students could choose to take these tests, in addition to the SAT, to showcase their strengths and interests. Previously called SAT II: Subject Tests, and before that Achievement Tests, e ach Subject Test examined students’ understanding of material taught in school. 

There were 20 available tests grouped into five main categories:  Math, Science, English, History, and Languages.

Some colleges used SAT Subject Tests for admission, course placement, and to advise students about course selection. Some colleges required students to submit scores from SAT Subject Tests for certain courses or programs.

College Board discontinued Subject Tests in 2021 . As students and colleges adapted to new realities and changes to the college admissions process, College Board stopped offering Subject Tests to reduce demands on students.

Students can still get and send Subject Test scores   from previous administrations, just as they do for the SAT. Students who didn’t get a chance to take Subject Tests can stand out on college applications by taking the SAT . And the expanded reach of AP and its widespread availability means that students have more ways to show what they know and what they’ve learned in specific subjects.

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College Board will no longer offer SAT's optional essay and subject tests amid COVID-19 pandemic

PHILADELPHIA -- The SAT's optional essay and subject tests have been nixed by the College Board, the latest step away from standardized testing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"As students and colleges adapt to new realities and changes to the college admissions process, College Board is making sure our programs adapt with them. We're making some changes to reduce demands on students," the organization said in a statement.

The subject tests will still be offered for international students, but only for two more sessions -- in May and June of 2021.

Students already registered for subject tests will be automatically refunded, the organization said. Those registered for the SAT essay will still be able to take the test through June 2021.

In response to why the organization is discontinuing the SAT essay, College Board again referenced the "changing needs" of students and colleges.

"This change simply streamlines the process for students who have other, more relevant opportunities to show they can write an essay as part of the work they're already doing on their path to college," it said in a statement.

Though this change by College Board is permanent, the last few months have seen many schools temporarily step away from requiring college-readiness exams.

Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California system, for example, all dropped their SAT and ACT requirements for the year -- with the UC system suspending them until at least 2024.

At the same time, more and more students and parents have argued that the tests should be optional on a permanent basis, saying that the tests aren't a true reflection of a student's intelligence or academic ability.

An analysis by Inside Higher Ed, for example, found that the lowest average scores for each part of the SAT came from students with less than $20,000 in family income, while the highest scores came from those with more than $200,000 in family income.

Still, College Board and ACT, Inc. have defended their tests, arguing they are still widely used and provide a standardized measure of academic readiness.

The-CNN-Wire & 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, do colleges still require the sat essay.

I've heard various things about whether or not colleges still require the SAT essay. Can someone help clarify if it's still necessary to take the essay portion of the SAT for college admissions? Thanks a bunch!

As of 2021, the SAT essay has been discontinued, and it's no longer an option for students taking the SAT. Consequently, colleges do not require or consider the SAT essay for admissions. When reviewing your application, colleges will focus on other components, such as your SAT scores, grades, course rigor, extracurricular activities, essays, and letters of recommendation. Therefore, you don't need to worry about the SAT essay, as it's not a part of the application process for any school anymore.

If you're looking for guidance on how to maximize your score on the sections of the SAT that are still in place, you can find a range of handy blog posts focused on test prep on CollegeVine's blog: https://blog.collegevine.com/category/standardized-tests/sat/

Good luck with your college applications!

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Does the sat even matter that much anymore

Class if 2023 junior here. I took the SAT and got a 1580, and I was extremely happy about my score until I heard that the SAT has very little weight in college admissions now. The UC schools are getting rid of it, and almost all colleges are test optional. Even Collegeboard is shortening the SAT.

How much do you think colleges will value the SAT or ACT in the next few years of admissions? I’d definitely hope it still has a big factor but from what I’m seeing, it seems to be becoming less and less important.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, does the sat essay matter expert guide.

In days of yore, the SAT Essay was very different. For starters, it was a required portion of the exam, scored as part of the writing section. You had a measly 25 minutes to give and support your opinion on such deep philosophical issues as the importance of privacy or whether people perform better when they can use their own methods to complete tasks.

Things are very different now. Along with the SAT itself, the SAT Essay has been completely revamped and revised. Among other things, it is now an optional portion of the exam. In light of this SAT Essay renovation, many schools will no longer require that students take the SAT Essay when they take the exam.

But what do all these changes mean for you? Is the SAT Essay important? Read on for a breakdown of the new SAT changes, information on which schools continue to require the SAT Essay, why schools do and don’t require this portion of the exam, and how to figure out if the SAT Essay is necessary or important for you.

UPDATE: SAT Essay No Longer Offered

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In January 2021, the College Board announced that after June 2021, it would no longer offer the Essay portion of the SAT (except at schools who opt in during School Day Testing). It is now no longer possible to take the SAT Essay, unless your school is one of the small number who choose to offer it during SAT School Day Testing.

While most colleges had already made SAT Essay scores optional, this move by the College Board means no colleges now require the SAT Essay. It will also likely lead to additional college application changes such not looking at essay scores at all for the SAT or ACT, as well as potentially requiring additional writing samples for placement.

What does the end of the SAT Essay mean for your college applications? Check out our article on the College Board's SAT Essay decision for everything you need to know.

The New SAT Essay

The SAT was revised in March 2016. The aspect of the exam that is most changed is the essay. Instead of writing a 25-minute opinion piece, you will have 50 minutes to analyze how the author of a given passage constructs his or her argument.

Additionally, instead of having the exam integrated into your composite score, you will receive a separate score for your exam that does not affect your 1600-point score. The new exam is graded out of 24 points - 8 points each in “Reading” (essentially reading comprehension), “Analysis,” and “Writing” (writing style). See our breakdown of the new rubric here .

Finally, the new essay is a completely optional portion of the exam. You don’t have to take it, and you’ll still get your 1600-point score. In this way it’s a lot like the ACT, which also has an optional essay. If you wish to register for the SAT Essay, you’ll pay an extra $11.50.

Because the essay is now optional, colleges have the option of not requiring students to send SAT Essay scores. Thus, many colleges have dropped this requirement. So who still requires the SAT Essay?

Let this creepy happy pencil guide you through the SAT Essay!

Who Requires the New SAT Essay?

According to a Kaplan poll in which 300 schools were surveyed, most schools will not require the optional SAT Essay. However, some still do recommend or require it, particularly in the most selective tier of institutions.

Notably, elite schools like the Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, and the University of Chicago are divided on the issue, with some requiring the essay and some neither requiring or recommending it. In the Ivy League, Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth and Yale will continue to require the SAT Essay, and Columbia, Cornell, UPenn, and Brown will not.

Big state schools are similarly divided: for example, the University of California system and the University of Michigan both require the essay, University of Illinois and Purdue University recommend it; and Penn State, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Indiana University neither require nor recommend the essay.

For the most up-to-date information on a school’s position on the SAT Essay, check the College Board . If the school isn’t on the list, check their admissions website. Those schools that do require the essay have gone on the record with specific reasons for doing so; I’ll break those down in the next section.

Schools are divided, like this egg.

Why Do Schools Require the SAT Essay?

Given that so many schools won’t require the essay going forward, you may be curious about those that do still require it. What’s their reasoning? Based on public statements from school officials, it seems to boil down to three main reasons:

#1: More Information Is Better

Some colleges seem to feel that all of the information they can get from applicants is helpful in painting a complete picture of the applicant. Certainly the SAT Essay presents a somewhat unique data point in that there are no other standardized elements of a college application that would include specific information on an applicant’s timed writing skills. It makes sense that schools that value having all the information that it is conceivably possible to obtain about a student would require the SAT Essay.

#2: The Revised Test Is Similar to College Work

The old SAT Essay involved a fairly arbitrary task and bore no resemblance to any work students do in college. However, the revised essay engages a student’s rhetorical analysis skills and requires the kind of analytical thinking students will perform in college. Thus, some colleges require the new SAT Essay because they feel it gives valuable insight into how a student might perform with college-level work.

#3: Sending a Message on the Importance of Writing

Institutions may also require the SAT Essay simply because they wish to telegraph to the world that they believe writing is important. This was part of the rationale given by Yale as to why they would continue to require the essay.

That’s why schools require it—but what about schools that don’t require the essay? What’s their reasoning?

Cats or dogs: another hot-button issue at elite institutions

Why Don't Schools Require the SAT Essay?

There are four main reasons that schools have given for not requiring the SAT essay going forward:

#1: Consistency

Many schools already do not require the optional writing portion of the ACT. So now that the SAT Essay is also optional, it makes sense to not require it, either. This simply makes testing guidelines consistent for those schools.

#2: The Essay Is Redundant

Some schools feel that they already have sufficient evidence of an applicant’s writing capability through application essays. This is particularly true at institutions where multiple essays are required as part of the application.

#3: The SAT Essay Does Not Predict College Success

In the past, the old SAT essay has been shown to be the least predictive element of college success on the SAT. While there is not yet data on the new SAT essay’s predictive capabilities, schools have taken this opportunity to shed what they feel is basically dead weight in an application.

#4: Requiring the SAT Essay Presents a Burden to Underprivileged Students

Columbia’s primary concern is that the extra cost of the essay may be a deterrent to underprivileged students.   University of Pennsylvania has made similar statements —minority and underprivileged students are least likely to have a “complete testing profile.” So, they’ve eliminated the SAT Essay requirement in the hopes of attracting a more diverse applicant pool.

A diverse tomato pool.

So Does the SAT Essay Matter to Your College Chances?

I’ve gone over how and why schools use or don’t use the SAT Essay. But what does all of this mean for you?

There are two main questions you need to answer to determine how important the essay is for you: first, should you take the SAT Essay section, and second, how important is your score?

Should I Take the SAT Essay?

This comes down mostly to whether or not you are applying to schools that require or recommend the SAT Essay. (In college applications, I would generally err on the side of treating recommendations as nicely-worded requirements.)

If you are truly not interested in a single school that requires/recommends the essay, and you don’t see yourself changing your mind, go ahead and skip it.   However, if there’s even a chance you might be interested in a school that does require/recommend the essay, you should take it.

And if you’re applying to highly selective schools, definitely take the essay portion, because around half of them require the essay. So if you change your mind at the last minute and decide you’re applying to CalTech as well as MIT, you’ll need that essay.

I advise this because if you don’t take the essay portion and then end up needing it for even one school, you’ll have to take the entire test over again. If you’re happy with your score already, this will be a big four-hour drag for you.

You might also want to take the essay portion if you are particularly good at rhetorical analysis and timed writing. Even for colleges that don’t require the essay, a stellar score will look good.

How Important Is Your SAT Essay Score?

This is a little more complicated, as it does depend to a certain extent on the schools you are applying to. I spoke to admissions officers from several schools, and some themes emerged as to how important they consider your essay score to be, and how they use it in evaluating your application:

• The general consensus was that the essay was the least important part of the SAT overall. Admissions offices will look much more closely at your composite score.
• The SAT Essay is primarily looked at in combination with your other writing-based application materials: your admissions essay and your high school English transcripts are also used to determine your writing and language skills. Essentially, it’s a part of a facet of your application.
• That said, bombing the essay would be a red flag to admissions officers that you might not be fully prepared for college-level work.

Overall, I would advise you not to sweat your essay score too much. The most important thing is that your essay score is more or less consistent with your other test scores. It certainly doesn’t have to be perfect—if you get a 1600 and an 18 out of 24, I wouldn’t stress too much. But if you, say, have a 1500 and get a 9/24 on the essay, that’s a little more concerning, as it may cause concern among admissions officers that you aren’t prepared for college-level work.

In general, then, schools really look at the score, but it’s not one of the most important parts of your application or even your SAT score.  Your best bet if you are interested in a given school that requires the essay and you want more specific guidance how they use the essay is to call the admissions office and ask. To learn more about what a good SAT Essay score is, check out our guide to the average SAT Essay score.

Not this kind of score!

How Can I Succeed on the SAT Essay?

Luckily, it’s very possible to learn the skills to hit the SAT Essay out of the park every time. Here are some general tips:

• Learn specific persuasive and argumentative techniques that you can reference in your essay. If you can’t identify what devices authors can use to make arguments, how will you write an essay about it?
• Make sure you have a clear thesis that can be defended with evidence from the passage.
• Include an introduction and a conclusion. This will help “bracket” your great points and show that you know how to structure a solid piece of writing.
• Rely on evidence from the passage to build your argument.
• Don’t give your opinion on the issue! The new SAT essay is not opinion-based.
• Make sure you use correct grammar and academic language. (No “This passage, like my brows, is on fleek.”)
• Write at least a page.

Also see this guide to getting a perfect SAT Essay score and this one on improving your score.

Tips to success: don't fold up the Essay section into origami boats.

Final Summary and Actionables

With the new SAT making the essay section optional, many schools have chosen to neither require nor recommend that students take it. Most schools will no longer require the essay, but highly selective schools are divided on the issue.

Among those schools that do require the SAT Essay, many have gone on the record to say that they feel the essay provides a valuable additional piece of information on an applicant’s potential for college-level work. They plan on using the essay as a way to further evaluate an applicant’s writing skills, although for most of these schools it is considered the least important part of the SAT score .

At schools where the SAT Essay is not required, the essay has been eliminated for a variety of reasons: for more consistency with ACT requirements, because the Essay seems redundant or poorly predictive of college success, or to attract a more diverse applicant pool.

What does all this mean for you? If there’s even a chance you’ll apply to a school that requires or recommends the essay, take the SAT with Essay. If you don’t and end up needing it later, you’ll have to re-take the entire exam.

If you do take the SAT Essay, don’t stress too much about getting a perfect score, but do prepare enough that you are confident you won’t get a very low score compared to your composite.

What's Next?

If you're thinking about test scores and college, check out my article on the minimum SAT score for college.

Ready to get started with practice essays? Check out our thorough analysis of the SAT essay prompt and our complete list of prompts to practice with .

Aiming for a perfect SAT essay score? Read our guides to get strategies on how to get an 8/8/8 on your SAT essay .

Ellen has extensive education mentorship experience and is deeply committed to helping students succeed in all areas of life. She received a BA from Harvard in Folklore and Mythology and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University.

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