Good news for Indian students as Dartmouth College reinstates SAT

Dartmouth's English language proficiency policy remains unchanged.

In what can be seen as good news for Indian students choosing the US as a study abroad option, Dartmouth College, a private Ivy League research university in the US, has readopted the standardised testing requirement for undergraduate (UG) admission beginning with applicants to the Class of 2029.

The move comes after a new research study commissioned by Dartmouth President Sian Beilock and conducted by Dartmouth economists confirmed that standardised testing is a “valuable element of Dartmouth's undergraduate application.”

According to estimates, around 25,000 Indian students take the SAT every year. However, Dartmouth suspended its standardised testing requirement in June 2020, along with various other US colleges and universities in response to COVID-19.

“At the time, we imagined the resulting ‘test-optional’ policy as a short-term practice rather than an informed commentary on the role of testing in our holistic evaluation process,” Dartmouth College said in a statement.

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“Nearly four years later, having studied the role of testing in our admissions process as well as its value as a predictor of student success at Dartmouth, we are removing the extended pause and reactivating the standardised testing requirement for undergraduate admission, effective with the Class of 2029,” the statement added.

Beginning with the Class of 2029, Dartmouth will once again require applicants from high schools within the United States to submit results of either the SAT or ACT, with no Dartmouth preference for either test.

For applicants from schools outside the US, results of either the SAT, ACT or three Advanced Placement (AP) examinations OR predicted or final exam results from the International Baccalaureate (IB), British A-Levels, or an equivalent standardised national exam are required.

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Dartmouth's English language proficiency policy remains unchanged: For students for whom English is not the first language or if English is not the primary language of instruction for at least two years, students are required to submit an English proficiency score from TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo or the Cambridge English Exam.