Should I take the SAT [applying to Columbia University School of General Studies]

Applying to College
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I’m a US citizen but went to high school and grew up overseas. I will be applying to Columbia GS for fall 2026 and will be 23 at the time of matriculation. I have never taken the SAT and don’t really understand the nuances of “test optional”. I tend to test well and would probably get a reasonable score, but I don’t know whether I should go to the effort of preparing/taking the SAT. Any advice welcome, thank you.

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If the school has the option to use it, then of course you should!!

Worst case is you don’t submit.

To add context, in the common data set they note it’s very important. But they also show only 25% submit.

Good luck

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I would suggest you take the SAT. Is the only U.S. college you are considering Columbia? If not…others do require the SAT or ACT.

Better to be safe than sorry…just in case another college requires this.

As noted, for test optional schools, you don’t have to submit unless you want to.

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Where else would you be applying?
Have you attended college in the past 4 years?

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Short answer: Yes.

As others mentioned, you don’t have to submit it if it comes back lower than you’d expect and you don’t want to re-take. But at Columbia, it looks like a decent majority of applicants submitted scores last year, and I don’t think there is clarity on whether those with scores are getting admitted at a higher rate than those without? But, college counselor and author Sara Harbeson says anecdotally, that seems to be the case.

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I think the poster is considering Columbia’s school of General Studies. Are SAT scores still considered for those that took the test post high school? I thought universities don’t look at SAT scores for transfer students but I could be wrong. Maybe they don’t consider the score if it was taken in high school but do if the score is recent?

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Relatively few students who enrolled in Columbia GS submitted test scores last year…17% submitted SAT, 8% ACT and there could be some who submitted both. See page 15:

While we don’t know how many matriculants submitted a score from HS, I agree with the poster who said taking a test a number of years after HS may not be compelling to Columbia GS admissions. I encourage OP to contact GS admissions and ask for guidance.

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