Stanford extends test-optional policy for third straight year

Stanford University has made its admissions process test-optional for the third year in a row.

Following the arrival of COVID-19 in the United States, Stanford previously suspended standardized testing requirements for the 2020-21 undergraduate admissions cycle. Stanford School of Medicine ceased requiring the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), and physics graduate applicants did not have to submit scores for the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) or the GRE subject test in physics.

[RELATED: Stanford scraps admission test requirement for medical students]

Now, according to the university’s admissions site: “For both the current 2021-22 admission cycle and the following 2022-23 cycle,Stanford will not require ACT or SAT scores for first-year or transfer applicants. 

”We recognize the ongoing challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, including limited access to admission testing worldwide, and as a result, we are extending this year’s test optional policy,” the university explains

As student newspaper Stanford Daily reports, the university’s admissions rate has rapidly decreased due to an influx of applicants. For the class of 2025, only 3.95% were admitted to the elite university.

Other top schools have also extended their test-optional admissions practices.

The University of Virginia — which U.S. News and World Report ranks as the fourth-best public school in the nation and the twenty-sixth best overall — will remove test requirements for two more admissions cycles.

[RELATED: UVA, fourth best public college in US, lowers academic standards for two more years]

Campus Reform reached out to Stanford University for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @BenZeisloft