Northwestern testing policy at a glance: No, Northwestern does not require the SAT or ACT. The university is test optional for first-year and transfer candidates, welcomes scores that a student feels duly reflect academic potential, and asks a direct yes-or-no question about whether submitted scores should be considered. The choice can be changed in the applicant portal after applying, and scores from later fall and December sittings can still be added. Families planning a testing timeline around Northwestern can schedule a consultation to build a complete testing and application strategy.
Source: Northwestern Undergraduate Admissions, Standardized Testing Policy (admissions.northwestern.edu/faqs/standardized-testing-policy).
Does Northwestern Require the SAT or ACT?
No. Northwestern is test optional and does not require ACT or SAT scores from first-year or transfer candidates applying for full-time undergraduate study. The application asks directly: do you want us to consider SAT or ACT scores in our review? Students answering no receive a review built on grades, course rigor, recommendations, honors, and the writing supplements, and Northwestern says plainly that its process will respect the preference. Either way, applicants may add optional testing such as AP or IB results, and students planning to lean on those alone should still answer no to the SAT and ACT question, since it refers only to those two exams.
Northwestern’s mechanics reward late bloomers. Applicants can change their status in the applicant portal to include scores no later than November 30, 2026 for Early Decision and February 15, 2027 for Regular Decision, and Northwestern explicitly accepts scores from October and November sittings after its November 1, 2026 Early Decision deadline and December sittings after its January 4, 2027 Regular Decision deadline (Northwestern testing policy). On scoring, Northwestern superscores the SAT, combining the highest sections across dates into a composite that overrides any single sitting. For the ACT, Northwestern asks applicants not to calculate their own superscore and to report their highest section scores along with the official ACT superscore available in their MyACT account. Self-reporting is accepted for everything except English proficiency exams, with officials due from enrolling students.
How Has Northwestern’s Testing Policy Changed?
Northwestern made scores optional in June 2020 for applicants to the Class of 2025 (Northwestern Now, June 2020) and has maintained the policy as a standing one rather than a dated experiment, presenting it on its admissions pages without a sunset year even as the reinstatement wave swept its peer group. That leaves Northwestern in select company: with Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, and most of the Ivy League requiring scores, Northwestern remains test optional, as does the University of Chicago. Its current pages use plain test-optional language, although Northwestern still requires English proficiency exams from some international applicants and external exam results from students whose secondary school completion depends on them.
Among first-year students who enrolled in fall 2025, 48 percent submitted SAT scores and 25 percent submitted ACT scores, and submitters had middle 50 percent ranges of 1520 to 1560 on the SAT, with a median of 1540, and 34 to 35 on the ACT, according to the Northwestern Common Data Set 2025-2026. Northwestern admitted 3,933 of 52,676 first-year applicants for fall 2025, a rate of 7.5 percent, including 1,212 of 5,939 Early Decision applicants (Oriel Admissions calculation). Northwestern says applying without an SAT or ACT score will not affect its review or a student’s chances of admission, and it frames the policy in holistic terms, reading every component against a student’s high school, household, and community context, and its willingness to accept scores well past its own deadlines signals a committee that genuinely wants the information when a student wants to share it.
| Policy Detail | Northwestern |
|---|---|
| Requirement status | Test optional for first-year and transfer applicants; English proficiency exams still required of some international applicants |
| How it works | Application asks whether SAT or ACT scores should be considered; the choice is changeable in the portal after applying |
| Late scores | October and November sittings accepted after the November 1, 2026 ED deadline (report by November 30); December sittings after the January 4, 2027 RD deadline (report by February 15, 2027) |
| Superscoring | SAT superscored across dates; official ACT superscore from MyACT accepted, no self-calculated ACT superscores |
| Reporting | Self-reporting accepted except English proficiency exams; officials corroborate highest self-reported scores upon enrolling |
| Optional extras | AP and IB results welcome with or without SAT or ACT scores |
| Fall 2025 enrolled students | SAT 1520 to 1560 (median 1540); ACT 34 to 35; 48 percent submitted SAT and 25 percent ACT; 3,933 of 52,676 applicants admitted, 7.5 percent (Common Data Set 2025-2026; Oriel Admissions calculation) |
What SAT and ACT Scores Are Competitive at Northwestern?
The submit decision at Northwestern follows the familiar elite-optional math with a friendlier deadline structure. A score inside or above the fall 2025 enrolled submitter range, 1520 to 1560 on the SAT or 34 to 35 on the ACT, is a straightforward asset, and the changeable preference means a borderline student can apply first and decide later with the final number in hand. Below the 25th percentile, 1520 on the SAT or 34 on the ACT, with no path upward, the optional route is sound, and Northwestern states that applying without scores will not affect a student’s chances of admission. AP and IB results can carry quantitative evidence for non-submitters, and engineering hopefuls in particular should make sure the math story is unmistakable somewhere in the file.
How Should You Plan Testing for Northwestern?
Northwestern’s calendar is forgiving: Early Decision applicants can sit October or November exams after the November 1 deadline and self-report by November 30, and Regular Decision applicants can add December results through February 15. That converts the standard testing arc into a genuinely low-stress sequence, a spring junior-year sitting, a fall retake, and a final swing sitting if the number is still moving, all without forfeiting the early round. SAT students should report everything and let Northwestern build the superscore; ACT students should report their highest section scores plus the official MyACT superscore rather than assembling their own. Enrolling students later corroborate their highest self-reported scores with officials.
For the picture across every top school, see our full guide to which colleges require the SAT and ACT. From there, Northwestern Supplemental Essays Strategy: Prompts, Approach, and Strategy for 2025-2026, Northwestern HPME Admissions Strategy: The Honors Program in Medical Education, and SAT and ACT Prep Timeline: 9th Through 12th Grade Roadmap for Elite Admissions can help you put testing inside a complete Northwestern application strategy.
What Does This Policy Mean for Your Application Strategy?
Strategically, Northwestern is where a testing plan gets its second chance. The changeable preference plus the post-deadline windows mean no student should withhold out of deadline panic; apply, keep testing, and flip the answer if the December sitting lands. The practical playbook is to prepare as though scores were required, because much of the list demands them, then exercise the choice deliberately, with the added option of exercising it late. Two cautions: the ACT superscore pathway runs through the official MyACT report, so keep that account current, and because the policy carries no stated end date, younger students should verify it each cycle rather than assume continuation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Northwestern’s Testing Policy
Yes. Northwestern is test optional for first-year and transfer candidates and does not require the SAT or ACT. Students choose whether submitted SAT or ACT scores are considered, and the process respects that preference.
Northwestern describes its policy as test optional: no SAT or ACT is required, and AP, IB, and other subject-based results are treated as useful but optional information. It does require English proficiency exams from some international applicants and external exam results from students whose secondary school completion depends on them.
Yes. Applicants can change their status in the applicant portal to include scores, no later than November 30, 2026 for Early Decision and February 15, 2027 for Regular Decision.
Effectively yes. Northwestern accepts October and November sittings after the November 1, 2026 Early Decision deadline and December sittings after the January 4, 2027 Regular Decision deadline, self-reported through the applicant portal.
The SAT, yes. For the ACT, Northwestern asks applicants not to calculate their own superscore and to report their highest section scores along with the official ACT superscore from their MyACT account.
Among enrolled students in fall 2025, SAT submitters had a middle 50 percent of 1520 to 1560, according to the Common Data Set. Oriel Admissions suggests submitting a score at or above about 1520 and using the changeable preference to decide late when a score is still improving through fall sittings.
The Common Data Set reports score submission among enrolled students: of first-year students who enrolled in fall 2025, 48 percent submitted SAT scores and 25 percent submitted ACT scores.
No. Northwestern does not require ACT or SAT scores from first-year or transfer candidates applying for full-time undergraduate study.
Sources: Northwestern Undergraduate Admissions, Standardized Testing Policy, Northwestern Common Data Set 2025-2026, Northwestern Now, June 2020.
About Oriel Admissions
Oriel Admissions is a college admissions consulting firm advising families nationwide on elite university admissions strategy, with offices in Princeton, New Jersey and New York. Our strength is a deeply experienced team and a distinctive 360 approach that treats every part of the application (academics, testing, activities, essays, and interviews) as one connected strategy. To discuss your strategy, schedule a consultation.
