Due to the Covid crisis, the SAT and ACT were not available for many students in America over the last 18 months. Universities can't require a test that students can't take, so nearly all over them switched to a "test optional" policy to get bums in seats. University of California dropped the requirement entirely and joins a small number of schools in being "test blind" in that they don't even see scores. More on that politically-motivated folly can be found here. Test blind works fine if your are small, rich, liberal arts college like Bowdoin. It is an entirely different proposition for a school with over 100,000 applications per year. We'll leave this debate aside, for now...
Changes happen slowly in this world and most schools have opted to continue this policy into the next admissions cycle (high school class of 2023). People love to vilify the SAT/ACT but the sad truth is that grade inflation has become so rife that universities honestly like having another impartial metric to look at. In 2019, nearly 31% of American high schoolgraduates had an A or A+ average. Many A level and IB scores around the world were based on predicted grades rather than exams and that resulted in some inflated grades as well. The SAT provides a standard yardstick of academic potential.
Not requiring test scores has resulted in a surge in applications to more competitive universities as thousands of students think the A+ average they have will help them get in, even if their SAT scores aren't in the right range. Universities seldom tell students not to apply, more applicants means higher rankings and at $90USD or so per applicant, thousands more applications leads to real money. This said, we don't want to get pulled into broader debate on the "fairness" of the system. (It isn't fair, sorry).
The consensus that has emerged is that if a school is test optional then students should look at the school's pre-Covid average SAT 25th to 75th percentile band for admitted students. If your score is towards the high end or above this level then submit, if not, don't. So, if a school's band is 1200 to 1300 and you score a 1280 then submit, but don't if you score 1230 or so or below. Every situation is a bit different and more than ever the decision is more of an art than a science - talk to your university advisor at your school.
Numbers have been trickling out and the empirical truth is that students submitting scores are having better results. Of course, there are major selection bias issues to consider as stronger students will score better on the tests, and also of course will have a better chance of gaining acceptance. If a kid is brilliant and has any chance of getting into MIT, then the SAT won't present much of a challenge. Here are some numbers:
School - Admit rate without submitting scores / Admit rate submitting scores
Boston College - 15% / 23 %
Chapman - 45% / 74 %
Colgate - 5% / 11 %
Emory - 8% / 18%
Georgia Tech - 10% / 22%
Penn ED - 9% / 18%
Tufts - 9% / 13%
U. Virginia - 13% / 26%
Wellesley - 13% / 20%
Universities are reticent in sharing such data but is it slowly trickling out. The key trend is that if you score well on the SAT/ACT and submit your scores, then it is to your advantage.
