Notre Dame announced in September 2026 that it's joining the wave of selective schools reinstating standardized testing -- but the timing is easy to misread, and getting it wrong could mean unnecessarily stressing over a test you don't actually need to submit this cycle.

Who this actually affects -- and who it doesn't

Notre Dame will require first-year and transfer applicants to submit an SAT or ACT score starting with the 2027-28 admissions cycle, for students enrolling in fall 2028. If you're applying to Notre Dame right now for fall 2027 entry, this doesn't touch you -- Notre Dame's own announcement is explicit that it remains test-optional for fall 2027 applicants. The group actually affected is today's high school juniors, not today's seniors.

That distinction matters because Notre Dame joins a list that already includes MIT, Dartmouth, Yale, Brown, Harvard, Cornell, Penn, Stanford, Caltech, and Princeton -- and every one of those reversals came with its own effective cycle, not a blanket "starting now." Checking a specific school's specific effective date, rather than assuming a policy applies to your own application year just because it made headlines, is exactly the trap this kind of announcement creates.

Why Notre Dame says it's doing this

Notre Dame's stated reasoning traces back to its own admissions data: a review across multiple cycles found standardized test scores provide real quantitative evidence of academic preparation, with a strong correlation between test scores and how students actually perform in the classroom after they enroll. That's the same basic finding Dartmouth's and Princeton's own internal reviews reached when they reinstated testing -- research pointing to scores as a genuine predictor of college performance, not just a historical admissions habit.

The access moves that came with the announcement

Notre Dame paired the testing announcement with two specific access and affordability initiatives, not just the policy reversal on its own:

  • A dedicated college adviser for rural students, added through Notre Dame's membership in the STARS College Network, working directly with rural applicants from application through enrollment -- a specific response to the access concern that a testing requirement disproportionately burdens students with less access to test prep.
  • A simplified Common Application supplement for fall 2027 applicants -- notably, this one applies to this year's applicant pool, not the future cohort affected by the testing change. Notre Dame cut its supplement from choosing three prompts out of five down to two out of four, part of a broader pattern of schools reworking their supplemental essay requirements recently, though Notre Dame reduced its prompt count rather than eliminating the supplement outright.

How Notre Dame's testing policy actually works, once it takes effect

A few mechanics worth knowing now, since they'll apply once the requirement kicks in for fall 2028 applicants: Notre Dame superscores both the SAT and ACT, taking your highest composite and section scores across every test date you've taken, the same superscoring logic that applies broadly across most schools that use it. The writing sections of both the ACT and SAT are not required, and the ACT's science section is optional. Scores can be self-reported on the application itself or through the applicant status portal; official scores only need to be sent afterward, and only if you're admitted and choose to enroll, due by the end of June.

What this means for you

  • Check which cycle you're actually in before you panic. If you're applying to Notre Dame for fall 2027, this requirement doesn't apply to you -- it starts with the 2027-28 cycle, for fall 2028 enrollment.
  • If you're a current junior planning to apply to Notre Dame next year, start planning for the SAT or ACT now rather than assuming test-optional will still be an option when you apply.
  • You can self-report scores at application time. Official score reports are only required after admission and enrollment, by the end of June -- don't hold up your application waiting on an official score report to arrive.
  • Notre Dame superscores, so multiple test dates can genuinely help once the requirement applies to you -- there's no penalty for submitting your best section scores across different sittings.
  • Don't assume one school's announcement means your whole list moved. Every school's testing policy is its own decision with its own effective date -- verify each school on your list individually rather than generalizing from one headline.

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