Virginia Tech Among the First to Announce They Will Not Accept Old SAT

Students planning to apply to Virginia Tech for enrollment in fall 2017 will need to prepare to take the redesigned SAT, scheduled for release March 2016.

The university officially announced that they will only accept ACT and redesigned SAT scores. Virginia Tech is one of the first institutions to reveal its official decision to only accept the redesigned SAT—it is unclear if other institutions will follow suit. Students, parents, and college counselors should make sure to check the standardized test requirements on the websites of each of the schools students intend to apply to before planning out their test preparation timelines.

Here is a short list of other schools who have already made note on their websites that they will accept EITHER the redesigned SAT or the current SAT:

1. Yale University - "For freshman applicants to the Yale Classes of 2021 and 2022, we will accept either the current SAT or the redesigned SAT and will require the essay portion on the redesigned SAT."
2. Columbia University - "If you are applying for fall 2017 admission, results from the current SAT and/or the redesigned SAT will be accepted."
3. New York University - "NYU will accept current and redesigned SAT scores for admission. Applicants may submit scores from either the current SAT or the redesigned SAT (offered beginning spring 2016)."
4. Stanford University - "Stanford will accept scores from both the current SAT and the redesigned SAT." (They also stated they will superscore the results from the current and redesigned SAT separately)
5. Harvard University - "We require all applicants to complete the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT Test with Writing and will accept both the current and the redesigned SAT scores with writing for the foreseeable future."

For students who are unfamiliar with the updates coming to the SAT or may not be able to take the current SAT before it changes, we recommend turning to the ACT as a safer option. Why? The ACT is barely changing while the SAT will be drastically different and therefore tougher to prep for. Read more here.

Keep an eye out for more announcements on ArborBridge's blog!