Recently, as more and more schools are dropping the SAT essay requirement, it’s hard to keep up with who still requires it and who doesn’t. Even some articles written as recently as this spring already include outdated information. So, first and foremost, check each school you are applying to and see if it’s still a requirement or not!

Starting in March with Harvard, then Yale and University of San Diego, followed by Princeton and Stanford, and most recently Brown, Duke, and University of Michigan, many top schools have made the decision to drop the SAT essay requirement.

There are a couple of reasons schools have made this change. Many schools have cited that the essay is a barrier for some students, so in an effort to be inclusive, schools are getting rid of the SAT essay requirement. Other schools mentioned that they already have other essays included in their application, either in the form of the Common App essay or supplemental essays, which they say are adequate in providing an accurate example of the students’ writing abilities. Finally, some schools, such as Princeton, are going to require that students submit a paper from a high school writing assignment as a way to gauge a student’s ability.

One important group of schools that does still require the SAT essay is the UC system. While they are considering whether or not they want to join the others and drop the SAT essay requirement as well, they are not ready to make that decision yet. They have said they are looking into it, but require more data to see whether it would be the right decision for them.

Overall, the trend seems to be moving more and more in the direction of keeping the SAT essay optional. Many schools already had the SAT essay as an optional piece of the application, but with big names like Harvard, Princeton, and Yale going in that direction as well, I’m sure even more are going to follow suit.