Do colleges still care about SAT scores in their admissions process?

I've heard mixed things about whether SAT scores are still a major factor in college admissions. Since some schools went test-optional, does submitting a good score really help, or is it not as important as it used to be?

The importance of SAT scores in college admissions varies significantly among different institutions. For the 2024-2025 application cycle, certain schools, like Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Purdue University, Yale University, and California Institute of Technology, have reverted back to requiring standardized test scores, including the SAT. So, for these schools, a strong SAT score would definitely be advantageous.

However, several schools such as Columbia University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, University of Chicago, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Michigan, and Cornell University have continued their test-optional policies. For these institutions, while a good SAT score could potentially strengthen your application, it is not required and isn't seen as the major deciding factor.

The University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems have gone completely test-blind, which means they do not consider SAT or ACT scores at all. So, an SAT score, regardless of how good it is, wouldn't influence your admission chances for these schools.

Therefore, whether submitting a good SAT score helps largely depends on the specific policies of the colleges you aim to apply to. Remember to consider other key factors in your application, including your high school GPA, course rigor, extracurriculars, essays, and letters of recommendation. While standardized test scores can offer colleges additional academic context about an applicant, they are just one facet of a comprehensive admissions review.