Georgetown testing policy at a glance: Yes, Georgetown requires the SAT or ACT, and it has done so longer than any elite peer, restoring its requirement while most of the country was still test optional. Scores must arrive as official reports from the testing agencies, Georgetown reads the highest SAT section scores across sittings, and by its own current language it is not a score choice school for the ACT, asking for every ACT administration. Families planning a testing timeline around Georgetown can schedule a consultation to build a complete testing and application strategy.
Source: Georgetown Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Test Requirements (uadmissions.georgetown.edu/applying/preparation-process).
Does Georgetown Require the SAT or ACT?
Yes. Georgetown requires submission of SAT or ACT scores from every applicant as part of its holistic review, and its mechanics are the most traditional at the top of the rankings. Scores must come as official reports from the College Board or ACT, sent with code 5244 for the SAT or 0668 for the ACT; Georgetown does not review self-reported numbers. For the SAT, only the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and Math sections are considered, and the Committee on Admissions takes the highest EBRW and the highest Math across multiple administrations, an internal superscore. For the ACT, Georgetown considers the English, Math, Reading, and Science sections, does not use the ACT’s own superscore reports, and, in its words, is not a score choice school: every individual ACT administration must be sent.
The edges are precise. Transfer applicants must also submit SAT or ACT results, with the requirement waived only for applicants who finished high school five or more years before intended enrollment. International students who genuinely cannot reach a test center may apply without scores and will receive a form after the deadline to explain the barrier. An English proficiency exam, the Duolingo English Test, IELTS, or TOEFL, is recommended but not required for students at schools where English is not the language of instruction. Families should also know the 2026-27 cycle is a transition year: Georgetown joined the Common Application for the first time, and reports around the application launch indicate relaxed score-sending rules, so confirm the current instructions on Georgetown’s testing page before ordering reports.
How Has Georgetown’s Testing Policy Changed?
Georgetown’s history sets the baseline for this entire cluster. Under longtime Dean Charles Deacon, a career advocate for standardized testing, Georgetown restored its requirement for applicants in the 2021-22 cycle, ahead of every elite peer and nearly a year before MIT’s March 2022 announcement started the broader wave. The university never wavered afterward, which means Georgetown’s published score data spans required-testing cohorts throughout the optional era, a continuity almost no peer can claim. Deacon stepped down in May 2026 after a 54-year tenure, succeeded by Melissa Costanzi, a thirty-year veteran of the same office, and the requirement itself carried through the transition unchanged.
What did change with the leadership is the application’s plumbing. For the 2026-27 cycle Georgetown accepts the Common Application for the first time alongside its traditional Georgetown Application, ending one of the most famous holdouts in admissions, and reporting around the launch describes loosened score-sending rules that would soften the historic all-sittings requirement. Georgetown’s own testing page, updated in June 2026, still carries the traditional language, which is why we present that as the standing policy and advise confirming before sending. What has never been in question is the weight: Georgetown’s bulletin states the committee is far more concerned with school record, academic program, and rank in class than with test scores, required though they are.
| Policy Detail | Georgetown |
|---|---|
| Requirement status | Official SAT or ACT scores required for all first-year and transfer applicants |
| In effect since | The 2021-22 cycle; restored earlier than any elite peer and never suspended afterward |
| SAT reading | Only EBRW and Math considered; highest of each across administrations (internal superscore); code 5244 |
| ACT reading | English, Math, Reading, and Science considered; ACT superscore reports not used; all sittings required; code 0668 |
| Exceptions | International applicants without test center access may apply without scores and explain via a post-deadline form; transfers waived only five or more years past high school |
| Score timing | Complete testing by January of senior year; Early Action applicants should send existing scores without waiting for October results |
What SAT and ACT Scores Are Competitive at Georgetown?
Because Georgetown has required testing continuously, its published ranges describe whole admitted classes rather than self-selected submitters, and they sit a notch below the post-optional Ivy bands for exactly that reason. Recent middle 50 percent ranges run roughly from the low 1400s to the mid 1500s on the SAT, with ACT composites around 32 to 35, and among the Class of 2029, 78 percent submitted SAT results and 32 percent the ACT, with overlap from dual submitters. Our working guidance is to treat roughly 1450 as the competitive floor for the College and the Walsh School of Foreign Service pools and the low 1500s as strong positioning, always remembering Georgetown’s own statement that school record and rigor outweigh the number.
How Should You Plan Testing for Georgetown?
Georgetown’s calendar runs earlier than its deadlines suggest. Testing should be completed by January of senior year so results reach Georgetown by early February, and Early Action applicants are told explicitly not to wait for October releases before sending their record. Because Georgetown reviews only official reports, students should order agency reports at registration rather than after scores post, building in agency processing time no other top school still demands. The all-sittings ACT rule rewards students who prepare before their first official administration, since every sitting travels with them. Applicants who test again after applying can list future dates on their forms, and deferred Early Action candidates get those later scores read in the Regular round.
For the picture across every top school, see our full guide to which colleges require the SAT and ACT. From there, How to Get Into Georgetown Nursing (Direct-Entry BSN), How to Get Into Georgetown McDonough, and SAT and ACT Prep Timeline: 9th Through 12th Grade Roadmap for Elite Admissions can help you put testing inside a complete Georgetown application strategy.
What Does This Policy Mean for Your Application Strategy?
Strategically, Georgetown’s traditionalism sets the preparation standard for a whole college list: any student ready for Georgetown’s official-reports, every-sitting regime is automatically prepared for the friendlier rules everywhere else. Two implications follow. First, take the first official sitting seriously, particularly on the ACT, where the whole record travels; a genuine diagnostic-and-prep phase before any real administration protects the file. Second, budget for reporting: agency fees per school are a real line item when self-reporting is off the table. Watch the transition too, since the Common Application debut and reported score-sending changes suggest Georgetown is modernizing around the edges even as the requirement itself, the oldest in elite admissions, stands firm.
Frequently Asked Questions About Georgetown’s Testing Policy
No. Georgetown requires SAT or ACT scores from all applicants and restored its requirement in the 2021-22 cycle, earlier than any elite peer. It held that position through the entire optional era.
No. Georgetown reviews only official score reports sent from the College Board or ACT, using SAT code 5244 and ACT code 0668, so students should order agency reports at registration rather than waiting.
For the SAT, Georgetown considers the highest Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and highest Math scores across administrations, an internal superscore. For the ACT, it does not use superscore reports and asks for every individual sitting.
By its current testing page, no: Georgetown asks for all individual ACT administrations and full testing records. Reports around the 2026-27 Common Application launch describe loosened rules, so confirm the current instructions before sending.
Yes. Transfers must submit scores, with the requirement waived only for applicants who finished high school five or more years before their intended enrollment and have no scores on file.
Georgetown allows such students to apply without scores and provides a form after the deadline to explain the access barrier. An English proficiency exam is recommended, not required, for students taught in other languages.
Because Georgetown never went optional, its ranges reflect full classes: roughly the low 1400s to mid 1500s, with ACT composites around 32 to 35. We suggest treating 1450 as the working floor and the low 1500s as strong positioning.
By January of senior year so results arrive by early February, and Early Action applicants should send their existing record without waiting for October scores. Later sittings can be added and are read on deferral.
Sources: Georgetown Office of Undergraduate Admissions, College Board SAT Suite, ACT, NCES College Navigator, College Scorecard.
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