Emory testing policy at a glance: No, Emory does not require the SAT or ACT. The university confirmed its test-optional policy for the 2026-27 cycle, covering first-year and transfer applicants, both entry points at Emory College and Oxford College, every decision plan, and consideration for all of Emory’s Scholar Program merit awards. Students who have taken an exam but prefer that Emory not look at those scores can make that choice when they apply, with no justification required. Families planning a testing timeline around Emory can schedule a consultation to build a complete testing and application strategy.
Source: Emory University Admission, Standardized Exam Policies (apply.emory.edu/apply/requirements/exams).
Does Emory Require the SAT or ACT?
No. Emory remains test optional for the 2026-27 cycle, and the coverage is complete: first-year and transfer applicants, both of Emory’s entry points, Emory College of Arts and Sciences and Oxford College, all decision plans from Early Decision I through Regular Decision, and every candidate for Emory’s Scholar Programs, including full-scholarship awards. The mechanics respect the choice. Students who have taken an exam but prefer that Emory not look at those scores can make that choice when they apply, students will not have to justify or disclose why they are not submitting scores, and Emory says they will not be disadvantaged in the review process (Emory admission blog, December 1, 2025).
For submitters, Emory’s rules are generous. It superscores both exams, taking the highest SAT section scores across all attempts and, for the ACT, averaging the four best subject scores from all submitted sittings to reach the highest composite score (Emory standardized exam policies). Self-reported scores are accepted, even after deadlines, with the file updated whenever new results arrive, though review is never delayed to wait for them; official reports, SAT code 5187 and ACT code 0810, come due only from enrolling students, and any negative discrepancy between official and self-reported scores may result in withdrawal of the offer of admission. One nudge applies to everyone: Emory encourages all applicants, including those applying test optional, to self-report AP scores of 3 or higher, and it also encourages applicants to self-report IB results.
How Has Emory’s Testing Policy Changed?
Emory has extended its test-optional policy one cycle at a time through announcements on its admission blog, most recently on December 1, 2025, when it extended the policy to first-year and transfer students who plan to enroll in fall 2027, an institutional rhythm that suggests deliberate year-by-year evaluation rather than drift. With Stanford, MIT, and every Ivy League school now requiring scores or scheduled to require them, Emory stands out among highly selective universities for keeping scores optional. Families of current sophomores should treat each Emory renewal as covering one cycle and watch the admission blog for each announcement.
The Emory Common Data Set 2025-2026 shows what optional means in practice at this tier. Among first-year students who enrolled in fall 2025, 47 percent submitted SAT scores and 21 percent submitted ACT scores; 96 percent of SAT submitters scored between 1400 and 1600, and the middle 50 percent ran from 1480 to 1540 on the SAT, with a median of 1510, and from 33 to 35 on the ACT. Emory admitted 3,869 of 37,561 first-year applicants for fall 2025, a rate of 10.3 percent (Oriel Admissions calculation). The Oxford College entry point, Emory’s smaller liberal-arts campus where students spend two years before continuing in Atlanta, runs the same testing policy. Emory frames the whole structure holistically, treating scores as one indication of preparation among coursework rigor, grades, essays, and the AP and IB results it actively invites from everyone.
| Policy Detail | Emory |
|---|---|
| Requirement status | Test optional through the 2026-27 cycle for first-year and transfer applicants |
| Coverage | Emory College and Oxford College, all decision plans, and all Scholar Program merit awards |
| Score choice | Students who have taken an exam can choose at application that Emory not look at those scores; no justification required |
| Superscoring | SAT highest sections across attempts; ACT composite built by averaging the four best subject scores across sittings |
| AP and IB | All applicants, including non-submitters, encouraged to self-report AP scores of 3 or higher; officials verify at enrollment |
| Deadlines | Early Decision I November 1; Scholar Programs November 15; Early Decision II and Regular Decision January 1; late self-reported scores accepted until review |
| Fall 2025 enrolled students | SAT 1480 to 1540 (median 1510); ACT 33 to 35; 47 percent submitted SAT and 21 percent ACT; 3,869 of 37,561 applicants admitted, 10.3 percent (Common Data Set 2025-2026; Oriel Admissions calculation) |
What SAT and ACT Scores Are Competitive at Emory?
The submit decision at Emory follows the familiar test-optional pattern. A score inside or above the fall 2025 enrolled submitter range, 1480 and up on the SAT or 33 and up on the ACT, is an asset worth showing, and Emory’s averaging construction on the ACT means an uneven sitting can still yield a flattering composite once the four best subjects are combined across dates. Below the 25th percentile, 1480 on the SAT or 33 on the ACT, with no path upward, the optional route is sound, since Emory says students will not be disadvantaged for not submitting, and the file should lean on Emory’s own invitation: AP scores of 3 and above, IB results, and a transcript that shows the hardest available sequence. Scholar Program candidates should note the awards run test optional too, so the merit case can rest entirely on the rest of the file.
How Should You Plan Testing for Emory?
Emory’s calendar offers Early Decision I on November 1, a Scholar Programs deadline of November 15, and Early Decision II and Regular Decision on January 1. Emory says scores from November exams typically arrive in time for Early Decision I, late November and early December exams for the Scholar Programs, and January exams for Regular Decision, while Early Decision II scores must come from exams taken and sent before January 1. The testing arc stays standard, a spring junior-year sitting and a fall retake, but Emory’s tolerance for late self-reported scores adds slack: results arriving after the deadline still join the file if the review has not yet happened. Emory says the timeline for changing a test-optional selection follows the earliest decision plan a student uses, regardless of college within Emory University. AP self-reporting belongs in the application regardless of the testing route.
For the picture across every top school, see our full guide to which colleges require the SAT and ACT. From there, What Is Emory University Known For?, Emory Supplemental Essays Strategy: Prompts, Approach, and Strategy for 2025-2026, and SAT and ACT Prep Timeline: 9th Through 12th Grade Roadmap for Elite Admissions can help you put testing inside a complete Emory application strategy.
What Does This Policy Mean for Your Application Strategy?
Strategically, Emory rewards families who read its structure as an invitation to show evidence in whatever form exists. The no-disadvantage promise makes the optional route trustworthy; the everyone-should-report-AP nudge tells you what the committee wants instead when scores are absent; and the generous ACT averaging quietly favors students whose subject strengths are uneven. The two entry points are their own lever, since Oxford College offers a distinctive two-year liberal arts start on a smaller campus. As everywhere in the optional tier, prepare as though scores were required, then exercise the choice with a final number in hand, and let the AP record carry what the score does not.
Frequently Asked Questions About Emory’s Testing Policy
Yes. Emory confirmed its test-optional policy for the 2026-27 cycle in a December 2025 announcement, covering first-year and transfer applicants, both campuses, every decision plan, and all Scholar Program merit awards.
Students who have taken an exam but prefer that Emory not look at those scores can make that choice when they apply. They do not have to justify or disclose why they are not submitting, and Emory says they will not be disadvantaged in the review process.
Yes, both, and generously: the highest SAT sections across all attempts are combined, and the ACT composite is built by averaging the four best subject scores across sittings.
Yes. Consideration for all Emory Scholar Programs, including full-scholarship awards, runs under the same test-optional policy, so a merit case can rest entirely on the rest of the file.
Yes. Emory encourages every applicant, including those applying test optional, to self-report AP scores of 3 or higher on the application, with official reports verifying them only at enrollment. Emory also encourages applicants to self-report IB results.
Among first-year students who enrolled in fall 2025, SAT submitters had a middle 50 percent of 1480 to 1540, and 96 percent scored between 1400 and 1600, according to the Emory Common Data Set. Oriel Admissions suggests submitting a score at or above about 1480 and leaning on AP and IB evidence below that.
None in policy: the test-optional policy covers both entry points, Emory College of Arts and Sciences and Oxford College, and the timeline for changing a test-optional selection follows the earliest decision plan a student uses, regardless of college. Oxford College students begin on a smaller liberal-arts campus before continuing in Atlanta.
Yes. Emory accepts self-reported scores after deadlines and adds them to the file if review has not yet occurred, though it encourages on-time submission and never delays a review to wait for new results.
Sources: Emory University Admission, Standardized Exam Policies, Emory Admission Blog, December 1, 2025, Emory Common Data Set 2025-2026.
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