Yale brings back the SAT, UC might, and a free college essay webinar!
Dear MJTP Families,
Two pieces of news from this week deserve your attention. Both point in the same direction, and both have direct implications for the college and career decisions you're facing.
Yale reinstates SAT and ACT testing for admissions.
On Wednesday, May 27, Yale University announced that it will once again require either the SAT or the ACT from all first-year and transfer applicants, beginning with the next admissions cycle. Yale had been test-optional from 2020 through 2023, then test-flexible since 2024, accepting AP or IB scores in place of the SAT or ACT.
That door is now closed.
In the announcement, Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis explained the reasoning in plain terms: SAT and ACT scores are strong predictors of a student's future academic performance at Yale, and when read thoughtfully as part of a whole-person review, they help identify well-prepared candidates, particularly those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
UC university system could be next
The second story is, in some ways, even more striking. More than 600 University of California faculty members, led by mathematicians at UC Berkeley, have signed an open letter calling on the UC system to reinstate the SAT or ACT math requirement for applicants to STEM majors, beginning with the 2027 admissions cycle. The University of California has been fully test-blind since 2020, meaning it does not consider standardized test scores at all, even when submitted.
The faculty letter is blunt. It cites a November 2025 UC San Diego report showing that, over the past five years, the number of incoming students whose math skills fall below the high school level has increased nearly thirtyfold. Professors say they are now reteaching middle school mathematics to college freshmen. The letter calls the test-optional policy a permanent vulnerability in an era of severe grade inflation and AI-assisted application essays.
The most salient line in the letter:
“Obscuring preparation gaps harms both students individually and the University collectively. It offers the appearance of access while undermining the chance of success. Failing to measure preparation gaps does not remove barriers; it moves them into the classroom, where they become harder to overcome.”
For years, the argument against the SAT was that it disadvantaged students from underserved backgrounds. The faculty and admissions officers who actually work with the outcomes are now saying the opposite. When a student from a less-resourced high school sits down for the SAT, the test gives them a chance to demonstrate readiness that a transcript alone cannot show. Removing the test removes that chance. Yale's dean made the same argument, and the UC mathematicians are now making it from inside the country's largest public university system.
What do we make of all this?
The practical takeaway for our families is straightforward. The SAT is not going away. In fact, it's making a comeback. The schools your students are most likely to apply to are moving back toward requiring it, and even the schools that remain test-optional weight a strong score heavily. Consistent, daily preparation matters more than ever. As I have said before, the concert violinist does not become great by practicing once a week.
Neither does the SAT student.
If you have questions about what this means for your student's June test, fall planning, or the broader timeline, please reach out.
While we are on the subject of college applications, I want to flag an event that pairs naturally with this week's news. On Monday, June 9 at 8:00 PM Eastern, my colleagues Maggie and Jacklyn of Summit Academic Support are leading a Zoom session titled How to Write an Unforgettable College Essay. Maggie and Jacklyn are current high school teachers who have spent twenty-five years in real classrooms and supported more than a thousand students through college applications. Their students have a strong track record at top-twenty schools.
The session will cover why most personal statements feel forgettable even when they are technically well-written, why a student's strongest essay topic is almost never the one they plan to write about, and how to find the right one. They will close with live questions and answers.
If Yale and the UC faculty are reminding us that test scores carry real weight again, the essay is the other piece that still has to do its own work. I would encourage any family with a rising senior, or a junior beginning to think ahead, to register. Seats are limited.
As always, thank you for trusting me with your family's test preparation.
Mr. John
