Princeton and Stanford drop requirements for essay testing

July 9, 2018
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Princeton and Stanford universities on Thursday became the latest prominent schools to stop requiring aspiring students to submit an essay score from the ACT or SAT.


Stanford’s dean of admissions and financial aid, Richard Shaw, said in an email that the school would “strongly recommend” that applicants submit an essay score from one of the two admissions tests. But the mandate is gone, starting with students who apply for entry in 2019. Shaw said the university in California’s Silicon Valley will seek alternative methods to promote good writing.