USC testing policy at a glance: No, USC does not require the SAT or ACT. The university has continued its test-optional policy for the 2026-27 academic year, letting each applicant decide whether scores are considered and promising no penalty or disadvantage for applying without them. The stakes concentrate instead on USC’s calendar, where the November 1 early deadline doubles as the gate for merit scholarship consideration. Families planning a testing timeline around USC can schedule a consultation to build a complete testing and application strategy.
Source: USC Undergraduate Admission, Test Optional FAQ (admission.usc.edu/test-optional-faq).
Does USC Require the SAT or ACT?
No. USC is test optional for first-year applicants in the 2026-27 cycle, and the mechanics are straightforward: students indicate on the application whether they plan to submit SAT or ACT scores, and USC states that applicants will not be penalized or put at a disadvantage for choosing not to. The policy covers homeschooled applicants as well, though USC recommends they include externally graded work such as SAT or ACT results, AP exams, or college transcripts where possible. International applicants are likewise not required to submit the SAT or ACT, though non-native English speakers must separately demonstrate English proficiency, and a student using the SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section for that purpose will have the score enter the general review too.
For students who do submit, USC’s current cycle guidance is flexible at the application stage: scores may be self-reported, appear on an official transcript, or be verified through a counselor, with official agency reports required from enrolling students who had testing considered. USC superscores both exams, reading the highest section results across test dates. Timing matters more than families expect: USC advises completing any standardized tests at least one month before the application date so scores can join the file, and the deadlines run November 1 for Early Action and Early Decision, December 1 for majors in Dance, Dramatic Arts, and Music, and mid-January for Regular Decision. English proficiency floors for internationals are genuine, with admitted students averaging above 111 on the TOEFL.
How Has USC’s Testing Policy Changed?
USC adopted test-optional admissions in 2020 and has renewed it cycle by cycle since, most recently confirming continuation for the 2026-27 academic year on its own admission pages. The same stretch brought bigger structural changes around the policy: USC introduced Early Action and then a binding Early Decision option, ending its long history as a single-deadline school, and tied merit scholarship consideration to the November 1 early deadline. That combination now defines the USC application more than the testing question does, since a family that misses November 1 has surrendered consideration for USC’s signature merit awards regardless of how strong the testing profile might be.
USC’s submission pattern sits a step apart from the schools above it in the rankings. Published ranges among admitted submitters run roughly from the mid 1400s to the low-to-mid 1500s on the SAT and 32 to 35 on the ACT, a band noticeably wider and lower-anchored than the post-optional Ivy ranges, which reflects both USC’s scale, with one of the largest applicant pools in the country, and the breadth of its programs from engineering to cinematic arts. USC frames its confidence in the optional policy around holistic review, and its merit scholarship process is explicitly formula-free, with no cutoffs for scores or GPA, so a strong submitted score helps the whole file rather than clearing a stated bar.
| Policy Detail | USC |
|---|---|
| Requirement status | Test optional for first-year applicants in the 2026-27 academic year |
| How it works | Applicants indicate whether scores should be considered; no penalty or disadvantage for applying without them |
| Score reporting | Self-reported, transcript, or counselor-verified scores accepted at application; official reports upon enrolling if testing was considered |
| Superscoring | Yes, both exams; highest section results read across test dates |
| Key deadlines | November 1 Early Action and Early Decision, which also gates merit scholarship consideration; December 1 for Dance, Dramatic Arts, and Music; mid-January Regular Decision |
| International applicants | SAT and ACT not required; English proficiency exam required separately, with admitted students averaging above 111 on the TOEFL |
What SAT and ACT Scores Are Competitive at USC?
The submit decision at USC turns on program and purpose. A score inside or above the admitted band, roughly the high 1400s upward on the SAT or 32 and up on the ACT, is an asset, and applicants to USC’s most quantitative programs, Viterbi engineering, computer science, and business, should aim toward the top of those ranges where their pools actually cluster. Below roughly 1420 with no path upward, the optional route is sound at a school whose review genuinely spans portfolios, auditions, and essays alongside transcripts. Merit-scholarship contenders face a subtler call: with awards decided holistically and no cutoffs, a strong submitted score is one more argument in a competition where every argument counts, which tilts borderline scholarship candidates toward submitting.
How Should You Plan Testing for USC?
USC’s calendar drives the testing plan more than its policy does. Merit scholarship consideration requires applying by November 1 under Early Action or Early Decision, and USC asks that testing conclude at least a month before the application date, which effectively makes early October the last comfortable sitting for scholarship-track students. Applicants to Dance, Dramatic Arts, and Music work to December 1, and Regular Decision candidates hold until mid-January, leaving a December sitting viable. The spring-junior-year-plus-fall-retake arc serves every track. Students submitting should keep reporting simple, self-reporting or transcript scores at application and saving agency fees for enrollment, and internationals should schedule the English proficiency exam early since its floors bind independently of the optional policy.
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 USC Marshall, USC Legacy Admissions: Does USC Still Consider Legacy?, and SAT and ACT Prep Timeline: 9th Through 12th Grade Roadmap for Elite Admissions can help you put testing inside a complete USC application strategy.
What Does This Policy Mean for Your Application Strategy?
Strategically, USC rewards families who treat November 1 as the real deadline and the testing choice as a lever inside it. The playbook mirrors the other elite holdouts, prepare as though scores were required and decide with a final number, with two USC-specific twists. First, the scholarship gate means the strongest overall files should almost always arrive early with their best evidence attached, and a competitive score is cheap insurance in a formula-free merit review. Second, USC’s program breadth makes the score’s job vary: a portfolio carries a School of Cinematic Arts file in ways no number can, while a Viterbi file without quantitative proof somewhere is incomplete. Match the evidence to the program, and let the optional policy absorb only what the rest of the file already covers.
Frequently Asked Questions About USC’s Testing Policy
Yes. USC has continued its test-optional policy for the 2026-27 academic year, so first-year applicants choose whether SAT or ACT scores are considered, with no penalty for applying without them.
USC states that applicants will not be penalized or put at a disadvantage for choosing not to submit, and its review spans transcripts, essays, activities, and for arts programs, portfolios and auditions.
Yes. USC reads the highest section results across test dates for both exams, so a planned retake can raise the evaluated profile without risk from an uneven sitting.
Under current cycle guidance, yes: self-reported scores, scores on an official transcript, or counselor-verified scores are accepted at application, with official agency reports required from enrolling students who had testing considered.
Admitted submitter ranges run roughly from the mid 1400s to the low-to-mid 1500s, so we suggest submitting from about 1430 upward, and pushing toward the top of the band for engineering, computer science, and business.
November 1. Early Action and Early Decision close then, and merit scholarship consideration requires applying by that date, with testing ideally finished a month earlier. Arts majors in Dance, Dramatic Arts, and Music have until December 1.
USC’s merit selection is holistic with no score or GPA cutoffs, so nothing is required, but a strong submitted score is one more argument in a formula-free competition, which tilts borderline scholarship candidates toward submitting.
No, the optional policy covers them, but non-native English speakers must separately meet English proficiency floors, and admitted students average above 111 on the TOEFL, well beyond the stated minimums.
Sources: USC Undergraduate Admission, College Board SAT Suite, ACT, NCES College Navigator, College Scorecard.
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