Top 40 LAC Students Testing Data

[Anonymous]

List of liberal arts colleges and the percent of their students who submitted standardized tests, as well as the median for those students. Some students submitted two scores, so percentages are actually lower than what’s available. Many have been test optional for awhile, but definitely lower rates than universities.

120% Navy 29
100% West Point 30
84% Air Force 31
76% Wesleyan 32
65% Colby 34
65% Carleton 33
63% Davidson 32
63% Macalester 32
62% Williams 35
62% Haverford 34
62% Colorado College 32
61% Amherst 34
61% Swarthmore 33
60% Harvey Mudd 35
58% Wellesley 34
58% Hillsdale 32
57% Bowdoin 34
55% Hamilton 34
55% Grinnell 33
54% Washington & Lee 34
54% Colgate 33
54% Bryn Mawr 31
54% Denison 31
54% Holy Cross 30
53% Pomona 34
53% Lafayette 31
52% Smith 33
51% Vassar 33
50% Barnard 33
50% Bucknell 32
48% Scripps 33
48% Berea 25
47% Middlebury 34
45% Claremont McKenna 34
41% Occidental 32
40% Richmond 33
38% Skidmore 31
37% Franklin & Marshall 31
31% Kenyon 33
29% Bates 33
22% Mt. Holyoke 32
19% Trinity 31
Test Blind: Pitzer, Spelman

[Anonymous]

Spelman isn't Test blind. There avg is 26

[Anonymous]

Found Spelman data - 48% & 25 Median ACT

[Anonymous]

Interesting - thank you for posting.

[Anonymous]

I find it surprising that Wesleyan has such a high rate of score submission considering they have been TO for so long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it surprising that Wesleyan has such a high rate of score submission considering they have been TO for so long.

It was only 58% last year among admitted students, according to their admissions site: https://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/apply/class-profile.html. So either they had a ton of SAT + ACT submitters in 2026, or they’re seeing a sharp drop-off (or 2027 was a fluke).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:List of liberal arts colleges and the percent of their students who submitted standardized tests, as well as the median for those students. Some students submitted two scores, so percentages are actually lower than what’s available. Many have been test optional for awhile, but definitely lower rates than universities.

120% Navy 29
100% West Point 30
84% Air Force 31
76% Wesleyan 32
65% Colby 34
65% Carleton 33
63% Davidson 32
63% Macalester 32
62% Williams 35
62% Haverford 34
62% Colorado College 32
61% Amherst 34
61% Swarthmore 33
60% Harvey Mudd 35
58% Wellesley 34
58% Hillsdale 32
57% Bowdoin 34
55% Hamilton 34
55% Grinnell 33
54% Washington & Lee 34
54% Colgate 33
54% Bryn Mawr 31
54% Denison 31
54% Holy Cross 30
53% Pomona 34
53% Lafayette 31
52% Smith 33
51% Vassar 33
50% Barnard 33
50% Bucknell 32
48% Scripps 33
48% Berea 25
47% Middlebury 34
45% Claremont McKenna 34
41% Occidental 32
40% Richmond 33
38% Skidmore 31
37% Franklin & Marshall 31
31% Kenyon 33
29% Bates 33
22% Mt. Holyoke 32
19% Trinity 31
Test Blind: Pitzer, Spelman

Your data is absolutely wrong..

Bucknell is 96% - SAT-70%, ACT 26

[Anonymous]

Bates is 39% - SAT is 25% and ACT is 14%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:List of liberal arts colleges and the percent of their students who submitted standardized tests, as well as the median for those students. Some students submitted two scores, so percentages are actually lower than what’s available. Many have been test optional for awhile, but definitely lower rates than universities.

120% Navy 29
100% West Point 30
84% Air Force 31
76% Wesleyan 32
65% Colby 34
65% Carleton 33
63% Davidson 32
63% Macalester 32
62% Williams 35
62% Haverford 34
62% Colorado College 32
61% Amherst 34
61% Swarthmore 33
60% Harvey Mudd 35
58% Wellesley 34
58% Hillsdale 32
57% Bowdoin 34
55% Hamilton 34
55% Grinnell 33
54% Washington & Lee 34
54% Colgate 33
54% Bryn Mawr 31
54% Denison 31
54% Holy Cross 30
53% Pomona 34
53% Lafayette 31
52% Smith 33
51% Vassar 33
50% Barnard 33
50% Bucknell 32
48% Scripps 33
48% Berea 25
47% Middlebury 34
45% Claremont McKenna 34
41% Occidental 32
40% Richmond 33
38% Skidmore 31
37% Franklin & Marshall 31
31% Kenyon 33
29% Bates 33
22% Mt. Holyoke 32
19% Trinity 31
Test Blind: Pitzer, Spelman

Your data is absolutely wrong..

Bucknell is 96% - SAT-70%, ACT 26

I wonder if Bucknell, like Bowdoin and I believe Wesleyan, reports on CDS all scores, even if not submitted. Eg, they collect scores after acceptance for data purposes and report those. So both data points may be correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:List of liberal arts colleges and the percent of their students who submitted standardized tests, as well as the median for those students. Some students submitted two scores, so percentages are actually lower than what’s available. Many have been test optional for awhile, but definitely lower rates than universities.

120% Navy 29
100% West Point 30
84% Air Force 31
76% Wesleyan 32
65% Colby 34
65% Carleton 33
63% Davidson 32
63% Macalester 32
62% Williams 35
62% Haverford 34
62% Colorado College 32
61% Amherst 34
61% Swarthmore 33
60% Harvey Mudd 35
58% Wellesley 34
58% Hillsdale 32
57% Bowdoin 34
55% Hamilton 34
55% Grinnell 33
54% Washington & Lee 34
54% Colgate 33
54% Bryn Mawr 31
54% Denison 31
54% Holy Cross 30
53% Pomona 34
53% Lafayette 31
52% Smith 33
51% Vassar 33
50% Barnard 33
50% Bucknell 32
48% Scripps 33
48% Berea 25
47% Middlebury 34
45% Claremont McKenna 34
41% Occidental 32
40% Richmond 33
38% Skidmore 31
37% Franklin & Marshall 31
31% Kenyon 33
29% Bates 33
22% Mt. Holyoke 32
19% Trinity 31
Test Blind: Pitzer, Spelman

Your data is absolutely wrong..

Bucknell is 96% - SAT-70%, ACT 26

I wonder if Bucknell, like Bowdoin and I believe Wesleyan, reports on CDS all scores, even if not submitted. Eg, they collect scores after acceptance for data purposes and report those. So both data points may be correct.

To add, we know they collect this data as their website states:

“Also note that all students who choose to enroll at Bucknell will be required to submit an SAT or ACT score before they begin their first year. These scores will only be used in the assessment of the test-optional program and will not impact the admission decision already made. Note: If you have never taken the SAT or ACT and do not have scores available, you will not be required to submit a score upon enrollment.”

The 4% are likely students who never took either exam.

[Anonymous]

Kenyon is 55%, not 31%. Just looked at CDS. 28% SAT, 27% ACT. 33 is accurate median for ACT.

[Anonymous]

Bates is 39%, not 29%. Your data is just wrong here. You should pull the thread.

[Anonymous]

The IPEDS data on admission statistics (accessible via the College Navigator interface) is reliable. The CDS data is less so, sometimes because colleges choose not to reports it at all, or because they use an unusual definition for what gets reported.
Bowdoin's and Bucknell's habit of reporting scores for all matriculating students, whether those scores were submitted with the application or not, is an example of this. Over the years this obscure difference in reporting standards has caused some to infer that, e.g. Bowdoin students are less academically distinguished than students at the WASP SLACS, or that Bucknell students don't match up to Lafayette students, when in fact they have exactly the same testing profiles.
The OP cited the correct 2022 IPEDS info for Bates: 17% of matriculating students submitted SAT scores, and 12% submitted ACT scores with their application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The IPEDS data on admission statistics (accessible via the College Navigator interface) is reliable. The CDS data is less so, sometimes because colleges choose not to reports it at all, or because they use an unusual definition for what gets reported.
Bowdoin's and Bucknell's habit of reporting scores for all matriculating students, whether those scores were submitted with the application or not, is an example of this. Over the years this obscure difference in reporting standards has caused some to infer that, e.g. Bowdoin students are less academically distinguished than students at the WASP SLACS, or that Bucknell students don't match up to Lafayette students, when in fact they have exactly the same testing profiles.
The OP cited the correct 2022 IPEDS info for Bates: 17% of matriculating students submitted SAT scores, and 12% submitted ACT scores with their application.

I don’t buy that IPEDs, which aggregates data from schools is more accurate than the numbers provided directly by the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The IPEDS data on admission statistics (accessible via the College Navigator interface) is reliable. The CDS data is less so, sometimes because colleges choose not to reports it at all, or because they use an unusual definition for what gets reported.
Bowdoin's and Bucknell's habit of reporting scores for all matriculating students, whether those scores were submitted with the application or not, is an example of this. Over the years this obscure difference in reporting standards has caused some to infer that, e.g. Bowdoin students are less academically distinguished than students at the WASP SLACS, or that Bucknell students don't match up to Lafayette students, when in fact they have exactly the same testing profiles.
The OP cited the correct 2022 IPEDS info for Bates: 17% of matriculating students submitted SAT scores, and 12% submitted ACT scores with their application.

I don’t buy that IPEDs, which aggregates data from schools is more accurate than the numbers provided directly by the schools.

DP: schools are federally mandated to submit the data each year to the NCES, which aggregates the data on the IPEDS platform. Interesting that there is a discrepancy. It’s possible that the data was entered incorrectly in IPEDS but more likely the college website is incorrect. Otherwise, schools are purposely provided false data to the government.