Last week the University of California system, which includes nine undergraduate universities and over a quarter million college students, made an amazing announcement.

They’re going test-optional for the next two years. That’s not necessarily a big deal—lots of colleges have gone test optional, especially this spring in response to COVID-19. But after those two years, the U.C. schools are then going test blind for two years. Remember that test blind means they will not consider SAT or ACT scores for admissions, even if you tell them your scores. Test blind is a pretty big deal, especially for campuses as selective and prestigious as U.C. Berkeley and U.C.L.A. There’s more: they’re going to try to develop their own test to take the place of SAT and ACT, and if their own test is developed and ready in four years, they’ll switch to that. But even if they don’t have their own test ready, they still won’t be going back to SAT or ACT. The University of California is simply done with the big standardized admissions tests.

(Fine print: individual campuses may continue to use scores, if submitted, for course placement, scholarships, and non-mandatory stuff like that. But I expect that to disappear quietly. They’re also not sure what to do about out-of-state and international students, since the U.C. system isn’t as familiar with everybody’s high school curriculum as they are with California’s. But over 80% of their students come from California.)

This decision, made by the 18 regents of the university system, was not controversial; the decision was unanimous.

Why should you care, especially if you don’t live in California or want to go to a U.C. school? Time will tell, but this is likely one of those “tipping points.” There was already a rush to go test optional—over 1,000 colleges are now test optional—and even more dropped test requirements this spring. I’ve argued in the past that test optional is just a gateway to getting rid of the SAT and ACT altogether, and U.C. seems to be paving the way. A major university system has completely lost faith in the tests. Not just a few quirky private schools like Hampshire. Not just Fairtest and the critics. But a major public university system. They’re providing cover for others who have also lost complete faith but wanted to see who else might make the first move. This is a really big first move.

Going test blind also relieves some anxiety for students considering not sending test scores. There’s a popular, though cynical, theory that the universities who say they’re test optional aren’t really test optional. According to this theory, you still need to send test scores if you really want to be considered. Schools just allow people to apply without test scores to boost the number of applications, and therefore boost the number of denials, to make themselves look more selective. But by going past test optional all the way to test blind, U.C. makes it clear that they really, seriously, don’t want the tests. Within two years, they won’t consider them even if you send them. ACT and SAT scores have become worthless to U.C.

It’s worth asking: if the University of California system thinks the SAT and ACT are worthless, why shouldn’t you? Everyone has known for a long while that the tests are flawed. Even before this announcement from California, no university still required the writing portions of the test. Few people are enthusiastic about taking the SAT or ACT, but they did it because that’s what you had to do to apply to college. But that’s changing, very quickly.

So should you just refuse to take one of the tests? That’s not easy to answer, at least not yet. What I would like to tell you, emotionally speaking, is to hell with the SAT and ACT. You just don’t need those tests any more. Many, many universities, including prestigious ones, will accept you without submitting test scores. Not bothering to take those tests can be your way to take a stand to help everyone out by delegitimizing the tests more quickly. And you can take that stand without jeopardizing your ability to go to college. Plus, those tests are really quite a waste of time if you don’t need them in order to apply. You should feel fine not taking the tests and limiting your college search to test-optional schools.

But I understand not everyone is ready to make that move. It’s easy for me to say to hell with them—I haven’t taken a standardized test in almost 20 years, and I’m not applying to college. But what I’m very comfortable telling everyone is to take your testing plans down at least one notch. Whatever your plan had been at the beginning of this school year, dial it back.

If you were really aggressive about testing, and planned to take both the ACT and the SAT at least once: choose just one and save your time preparing for the other. If you planned to take a test prep course and take the exam multiple times so you can “superscore”: do the prep or the multiple tries, but not both. If you planned to take a test and then decide if you want to take it again, possibly with a test prep course: decide that you’re going to take it only once, and do your best. If you were thinking that you may or may not take a test, because you’re not sure you really need to take it: don’t.

It’s important that you work to be the best student you can be and to be thoughtful and careful about applying to colleges that are a good fit. But it’s time we start letting go of thinking that vigorous standardized tests like the ACT and SAT are part of that. Even before the pandemic, colleges were going test optional at a rate of one or two a week. Since then, many more have gone test optional, at least for the next few years. If the U.C. system is any indicator, we may never see SAT or ACT come back to what they were before. Universities have quickly and decidedly devalued those tests. High school students, even smart and ambitious ones with big college goals, can devalue them too.

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Read these related posts: What are good test scores? Test optional isn’t going to last. The Glossary: test optional.
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