Michigan testing policy at a glance: No, the University of Michigan does not require the SAT or ACT. Michigan is test optional, continuing for the current cycle under a policy formalized in 2024 and reviewed on an ongoing basis, with applicants choosing on the application whether scores are considered. The details have teeth: score deadlines of November 1 for the early rounds and February 1 for Regular Decision, and a brand-new binding Early Decision option. Families planning a testing timeline around Michigan can schedule a consultation to build a complete testing and application strategy.
Source: University of Michigan Undergraduate Admissions, Application Changes (admissions.umich.edu/apply/first-year-applicants/requirements-deadlines/application-changes).
Does Michigan Require the SAT or ACT?
No. Michigan is test optional for first-year applicants, continuing for the current cycle, and the choice is made through a direct application question about whether SAT or ACT scores should be considered. Answering no removes those exams from the review entirely while still allowing a student to self-report AP or IB results, which Michigan considers in context with the academic record regardless of the testing choice. The deadlines are firm: self-reported or official scores must arrive by November 1 for Early Decision or Early Action consideration and by February 1 for Regular Decision, and an early-round applicant who answered yes but misses the November 1 date is automatically moved into the test-optional pool rather than delayed.
Michigan’s terminology shift carries real content. From 2020 the university ran a test-flexible policy under which PSAT, AP, or IB results could stand in for the SAT and ACT; the 2024 formalization retired that substitution, so only the SAT or ACT now answers the testing question, while AP and IB scores continue to inform the academic record on their own track. Reporting is flexible, self-reported on the application or through the Enrollment Connect portal, or official from the agencies with SAT code 1839 and ACT code 2062, but validation is strict: enrolling students who self-reported must send officials, and a significant discrepancy can mean revoked admission. For submitters, Michigan reads a student’s strongest results, considering the highest SAT section scores across sittings.
How Has Michigan’s Testing Policy Changed?
Michigan’s path is a study in deliberateness. The pandemic-era test-flexible policy ran four cycles while a cross-campus committee of faculty and staff reviewed application data, national research, and peer policies, concluding in February 2024 that a formal test-optional policy best served access and fairness, with monitoring to continue. That put Michigan on the opposite path from much of its peer group, formalizing optionality in the same season Dartmouth, Yale, and Brown announced returns to required testing, and it remains among the most selective publics holding the line, with most of the Big Ten similarly optional. The university updates any cycle changes on its Application Changes page before the application opens each August.
The bigger structural news for current applicants is the calendar. Michigan added a binding Early Decision plan for fall 2026 first-years, requiring a signed agreement from the student, a parent or guardian, and the counselor, alongside its long-standing nonbinding Early Action and Regular Decision rounds, a meaningful shift for a public flagship that had never offered a binding commitment. Submission behavior tracks the elite-optional pattern: published ranges among admitted submitters run roughly from the low 1400s to the low-to-mid 1500s on the SAT and 31 to 34 on the ACT, in an applicant pool that now approaches ninety thousand, among the largest in the country outside the UC system.
| Policy Detail | Michigan |
|---|---|
| Requirement status | Test optional for first-year applicants, continuing for the current cycle under ongoing review |
| How it works | Application question determines whether SAT or ACT scores are considered; AP and IB results read in context either way, but no longer substitute for the SAT or ACT |
| Score deadlines | November 1 for Early Decision and Early Action; February 1 for Regular Decision; early applicants missing the date move to the test-optional pool |
| Application rounds | New binding Early Decision (signed agreement required) alongside nonbinding Early Action and Regular Decision |
| Reporting | Self-report on the application or Enrollment Connect, or send officials (SAT 1839, ACT 2062); enrollees validate self-reports, with discrepancies risking revocation |
| Scoring | Michigan considers a student’s strongest results, reading the highest SAT section scores across sittings |
What SAT and ACT Scores Are Competitive at Michigan?
The submit decision at Michigan follows the elite-public template, sharpened by residency. A score inside or above the submitter band, roughly 1430 and up on the SAT or 31 and up on the ACT, belongs in the file, and out-of-state applicants, who face materially steeper competition and higher costs, should work from the band’s upper half, particularly for the College of Engineering and the Ross School of Business preferred-admission pool, where quantitative evidence carries the most weight. In-state students with rigorous transcripts hold more latitude. Below roughly 1380 with no path upward, Michigan’s optional route is well-traveled, and AP or IB results, which Michigan reads in context either way, can supply the external benchmark the missing score would have offered.
How Should You Plan Testing for Michigan?
Michigan’s calendar now has three doors and two hard score dates. Early Decision and Early Action both close November 1, and that same date is the score deadline for early consideration, with no grace window: an early applicant testing in late fall should recognize that a November sitting will not arrive in time, and that answering yes without a score by the deadline simply converts the file to test optional. Regular Decision applicants hold until February 1 for scores, which keeps December sittings comfortably viable. The classic arc, a spring junior-year sitting plus an early-fall retake, serves every round. Homeschooled applicants face the one exception worth noting, since Michigan strongly encourages their files to include SAT or ACT results plus subject evidence keyed to the intended college.
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 Michigan Nursing (Direct-Admit BSN), How to Get Into University of Michigan for Engineering, and SAT and ACT Prep Timeline: 9th Through 12th Grade Roadmap for Elite Admissions can help you put testing inside a complete Michigan application strategy.
What Does This Policy Mean for Your Application Strategy?
Strategically, Michigan rewards families who treat the new Early Decision round as the headline. A binding option at a top public changes list construction: a student certain about Ann Arbor can now signal it contractually, and a finished testing profile by October keeps that lever fully available with the strongest possible file. The testing playbook itself mirrors the other holdouts, prepare as though required, decide with a real number, but Michigan’s automatic pool reassignment removes the deadline drama that complicates other schools’ early rounds. Two cautions: validate self-reported scores carefully, since discrepancies risk revocation, and remember the policy is formally under ongoing review, so younger siblings should not assume today’s choice survives to their cycle.
Frequently Asked Questions About Michigan’s Testing Policy
Yes. Michigan is test optional for first-year applicants, continuing for the current cycle under a policy formalized in 2024, with applicants choosing on the application whether SAT or ACT scores are considered.
Under test-flexible, PSAT, AP, or IB results could substitute for the SAT and ACT. Since 2024, only the SAT or ACT answers the testing question, while AP and IB scores are read in context with the academic record either way.
November 1 for Early Decision and Early Action, and February 1 for Regular Decision, self-reported or official. An early applicant who answers yes but misses November 1 is automatically reviewed as test optional.
Yes, newly: Michigan added a binding Early Decision plan for fall 2026 first-years, requiring a signed agreement from the student, a parent or guardian, and the counselor, alongside its nonbinding Early Action and Regular Decision rounds.
Submitter ranges among admits run roughly from the low 1400s to the low-to-mid 1500s, so we suggest submitting from about 1430 upward, with out-of-state, Engineering, and Ross-bound applicants working from the band’s upper half.
Yes, on the application or through Enrollment Connect, and decisions rest on self-reports. Enrolling students must validate with official reports, and a significant discrepancy can result in revoked admission, so report precisely.
Yes. Michigan considers AP scores, IB grades, and predicted international results in context with the academic record regardless of the testing choice, and they carry extra weight for homeschooled applicants.
The university reviews the policy on an ongoing basis and posts any cycle changes before the application opens each August, so families of younger students should verify each cycle rather than assume continuation.
Sources: University of Michigan Undergraduate Admissions, College Board SAT Suite, ACT, NCES College Navigator, College Scorecard.
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