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Articles / Preparing for College / Can I Send Colleges ONLY My SAT Subject Test Scores?

Can I Send Colleges ONLY My SAT Subject Test Scores?

Sally Rubenstone
Written by Sally Rubenstone | Aug. 31, 2020
Can I Send Colleges ONLY My SAT Subject Test Scores?

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I am applying to several Ivy league and other top 20 colleges this fall, and all of them are test optional. I didn't do particularly well on the ACT when I took it last fall (I got a 32) but when I took the SAT subject tests, I got perfect scores on both Physics and Math 2. Would it be weird for me to submit Subject Test scores with my application but to NOT submit the regular ACT or SAT?


It's not at all weird to send just the Subject Test scores and not your ACT results. This year, most admission folks will be taking a "Mix and Match" approach to testing ... or maybe it's more like "Anything Goes!"

So unless your college list includes places that have specifically said, "Do NOT send Subject Tests (or ANY tests) because we won't even look at them," then it's actually a wise plan to submit only your Physics and Math 2 results.

Good luck and let us know if you have any further questions on your admissions journey!

About the Ask the Dean Column

Sally Rubenstone is a veteran of the college admissions process and is the co-author of three books covering admissions. She worked as a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years and has also served as an independent college counselor, in addition to working as a senior advisor at College Confidential since 2002. If you'd like to submit a question to The Dean please email us at editorial@collegeconfidential.com.

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Written by

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.

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