Changes are at afoot at Princeton and Stanford. Princeton on Thursday announced it would no longer require applicants to do the writing portions of the SAT or ACT. Stanford University is making a similar change.
Note this trend is in line with announcements made by Harvard and Yale. Only 23 institutions now require the writing portion of the SAT/ACT, according to Princeton Review.
Princeton is, however, adding a writing requirement — for all applicants. “Princeton will now require a graded writing sample, preferably in the subjects of English or history, to be submitted by all applicants to the university. University officials believe that assessing a student’s in-class work will provide helpful and meaningful insight into a student’s academic potential,” said the announcement.
Many counselors including Stoodnt believe that the writing portion is unnecessary given the low number of schools that require it and how little admission officers value it.