For a brief while, it seemed that standardized tests like the SAT and GRE had become relics of higher education’s past. However, as the dust settled from the pandemic, admissions officers globally began to silently build new guardrails. While some claim the current admissions system represents old wine in a new bottle, the process has now evolved into a hybrid model characterized by deeper holistic reviews and project-based evidence alongside raw test scores. Understanding and accommodating this new normal has become vital for any applicant.
Following COVID, many universities altered their testing infrastructure, building a test-optional or test-blind model almost overnight. Recent trends, however, reveal that several elite schools, including Princeton, have reversed course again by reinstating their SAT/ACT requirements. According to Applerouth, Princeton cites internal data showing that admitted students who submit test scores perform better academically than those who do not.
Harvard, Yale, MIT, and many other schools now buy into this trend by requiring applicants once again to submit standardized-test results. However, certain second-tier and even third-tier universities remain test optional. According to FairTest, over 80% of US four-year colleges did not require SAT/ACT for fall 2025 admissions.
Now what does this mean for a potential applicant? Changes to and variations in admissions policies have become a patchwork. Applicants must treat the SAT and ACT as strategic tools rather than as set-in-stone requirements—useful in some schools, irrelevant in others.
GRE Loses Its Charm, Especially for Many MS and PhD Tracks
The landscape has perhaps changed even more dramatically for graduate school admissions, with several programs dropping the GRE entirely or making it optional. According to the American Psychological Association, many psychology graduate programs reduced GRE requirements between 2020–2022. A longer-term academic study from Taylor & Francis Online shows that for leading STEM fields like molecular biology, neuroscience, and ecology, universities increasingly waive or eliminate the GRE.
However, similar to the varied requirements for the SATs and ACTs, those for the GRE come with certain caveats: some quantitative-heavy or highly competitive PhD programs prefer GRE scores for filtering applicants or for fellowship decisions. So, for MS and PhD applications, the GRE may be either optional or highly important.
The key takeaway? If you’re applying to MS or PhD programs, check whether your target universities still require the GRE. If they don’t, don’t worry about prepping for it and instead concentrate on amplifying other parts of your dossier, like your GPA, research, publications, and statements that help you stand out from the applicant pool. However, if you’re applying to work on a high-stakes, quantitative STEM PhD, a solid GRE score may still matter.
Holistic Reviews and Project-Based Evidence Gain Ground
Many undergraduate universities also put less emphasis on high school test scores as universal benchmarks (especially since COVID led to pass/fail policies and transcript irregularities). Admissions officers focus instead on holistic reviews. Their requirements go beyond merely requiring essays and recommendations (pre-COVID relics of the admissions process). Many such programs now expect applicants to show applied competence, such as in evidence-based portfolios, project artifacts, coding repositories, publications, or internships with measurable impact.
In fact, many admissions departments believe that standard academic metrics like GPAs or test scores no longer suffice because the quality of schools varies across countries, boards and even states. Instead, admissions offices signal that a student’s trajectory, applied output, and fit matter more.
Some departments, like Cornell’s physics department, formalize rubric-based holistic review models to reduce bias and increase transparency in the admissions process.
For applicants, this means that waiting to do a project portfolio could be disastrous. Admissions officers now look for consistency and ongoing effort. So, students should document their progress through their portfolios and link the elements of their portfolios to their statement of purpose or CV.
Context, Equity, and Resilience Get Built in
Contextual information also serves as a part of the current admissions process. This information helps reviewers assess students fairly and also look for signals of resilience and growth.
Referring to COVID disruptions has become cliché in application essays, but these stories can interest admissions committees if students pair their struggles with evidence of recovery: better grades, self-led learning, capstone completions, personality development, or meaningful internships. Mere mention of hardship without showing a path out of it does not impress admissions reviewers, who have no interest in sob stories.
Competition Increases and Timelines Compress
Other pressures continue to rise for undergraduate and graduate applicants. The average number of applications has shot up. According to CollegeData, many public universities have seen large spikes in applicants, including international ones, over recent cycles. Both early decision and early action numbers are rising too. Competition for financial aid, grants, and merit scholarships has become more aggressive and less predictable.
At the end of the day, students should view these trends as a motivation to sharpen their game plans, not as a reason to run for cover. New applicants must treat admissions as a multi-phase process, not as a single deadline. Planning and strategizing early helps, given the cut-throat competition these days.
The COVID era forced admissions offices to reevaluate everything, how to measure a potential student’s previous and future success, how to ensure fairness, and how to distinguish among students in an oversupply of candidates. Today’s applicants cannot merely rely on raw metrics. They must curate evidence, tell coherent stories of growth and resilience, and plan their timing strategically.
Rtr. Vedika Pal is a student at the University of New South Wales, pursuing Bachelor of Economics with a specialization in Macroeconomic Data Analytics and Financial Econometrics alongside Bachelor of International Business. Pal is the founder and president of the Interact Club of Happiness Ambernath and the lead convener of the Global Youth Economic Empowerment Program (GYEEP), an initiative aimed at bridging national borders through financial literacy and youth engagement. Her academic work includes economic research on AI-Driven Automation and Income Inequality. Alongside research, she is also a novelist and content creator, using storytelling, cultural exchange, and advocacy to empower young people globally.
This article was originally published in AWIS Magazine. Join AWIS to access the full issue of AWIS Magazine and more member benefits.