Should I still take the SATs for the 2021 admissions cycle?

Taking the SAT during the 2020-2021 admissions cycle will only help you if you have an SAT score commensurate with the middle 50% or better of the applicant pool for that year at that college. So if you are applying to a college that has a 50% percentile range of 1250-1400, you will benefit from submitting an SAT score if it is above 1250. If it is below 1250, the probability that it will give you any bump begins to diminish on a sliding scale. So you have 1150 that's worse than a 1200 submission. But if you submit an SAT score on the right side (tail) of 1325 which is a score from 1325 to 1600, that will bump you up more than 1250. Therefore if your SAT, in this case, is 1250, don't submit it and it will not negatively impact how the application reader reviews your file. Hope that helps and good luck.

A strong SAT will help regardless. A bad SAT won't hurt you. I highly recommend you give the SAT a try. If you don't do well on it, just don't submit it! If your profile is similar to someone else who didn't take the SAT, the admissions officers will choose you if you have taken the SAT.

Hi! If possible and you consider standardized tests to be an area of strength, I would still recommend taking the SAT. While it is not required at many schools due to COVID-19, scores within or above a school’s average range could strengthen your chances of admission. Additionally, these scores can be a determining factor in reviving scholarships, which is often worth considering in order to pay for college in general. If you take the SAT and don’t think they reflect your academic abilities and prefer your application to be considered without them (if a school is test-optional) you can always make that decision for yourself. I would recommend taking it if you have the ability, but it’s ultimately up to you. Hope this gives you a little more insight when deciding whether the advantages are worth testing for!