"Test Optional" Schools

"I'm not a good test taker," Mr. Bottomly, "are there any colleges that I can apply to where I don't have to submit test scores?"

It's a common question.

It's a common anxiety.

The good news is that there are over 800 colleges and universities that are test optional.

Test optional just means that students have the option to submit an ACT or SAT I/II score or not.

Many times colleges will allow students to substitute out a test score and in its place submit in a extra essay, graded assignment, or homemade Youtube video.

Below you will find a list of colleges/universities that many of our students have been admitted to during the selection process (even matriculated to). Many of our students have been amazed to find colleges on this list that are on the first page of the US News and World Report (not that I endorse the rankings). The common myth is that test optional schools must not be "good" schools ("good" is a blog post in-of-itself. What does "good" really mean?).
American University
Bard College
Bates College
Bennington College
Bowdoin College
Bryn Mawr
College of Holly Cross
Denison University
Depaul University
Drew University
Franklin & Marshall College
Furman University
George Mason University
Goucher College
Gustavus Adolphus College
Hamilton College
Hobart and Smith College
Hampshire College
Knox College
Lake Forest College
Lawrence University
Lewis and Clark College
Marist College
Mt. Holyoke
Muhlenberg College
Pitzer College
Providence College
Rollins College
Saint Leo University
Sarah Lawrence College
Sewanee (University of the South)
Smith College
Stetson University
Susquehanna University
University of Arizona
Wake Forest University
Washington and Jefferson College
Wheaton College (MA)
Wittenberg College

To see the full "test optional" list click here.