{"id":4027,"date":"2013-06-06T09:36:41","date_gmt":"2013-06-06T13:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/?page_id=4027"},"modified":"2025-08-14T10:55:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T14:55:11","slug":"optional-testing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/optional-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"Optional and Required Testing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Bates has been a national leader in the test-optional movement for over four decades. In October 1984, the faculty voted to make standardized testing, such as the SAT and the ACT, <em>optional<\/em> for all students applying to Bates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the Class of 2029, the middle 50% of those who submitted scores had ranges of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>SAT Evidence Based Reading and Writing <strong>710-760<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SAT Math\u00a0<strong>720-750<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ACT Composite <strong>32-34<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Bates College does &#8220;superscore&#8221; both the SAT and ACT, meaning that we will automatically consider your highest section scores from different test dates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If English is neither the native language nor the primary language of secondary school instruction, then results of an English-proficiency test, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ets.org\/toefl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TOEFL<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ielts.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">IELTS<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/englishtest.duolingo.com\/applicants\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/englishtest.duolingo.com\/applicants\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Duolingo English Test<\/a>, is <em>required<\/em>. An official copy of the results should be submitted to the Office of Admission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-embed-aspect-16-9\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<lite-youtube videoid=\"bUCdkeT5Ph4\" params=\"modestbranding=1&#038;rel=0\" playlabel=\"What does &#039;test optional&#039; mean? | Ask the College Experts\" title=\"What does &#039;test optional&#039; mean? | Ask the College Experts\" >\n\t\t\t<\/lite-youtube>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Score Reporting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For applicants who would like their testing to be considered, Bates will accept both official and self-reported test scores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Official test scores can be submitted in any of the following ways:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sent directly from the testing agency (SAT and ACT). Bates&#8217; testing codes are 3076 (SAT) and 1634 (ACT)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sent by the student&#8217;s school counselor via email (<a href=\"mailto:admission@bates.edu\">admission@bates.edu<\/a>) <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sent by the student&#8217;s school counselor via official school transcript<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Self-reported test scores can be submitted in any of the following ways:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Enter scores in the testing section of the Common Application or Coalition Application, Powered by Scoir<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Submit screenshots or scanned copies of score reports via email (<a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"mailto:admission@bates.edu\" target=\"_blank\">admission@bates.edu<\/a>) <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For applicants who would like their testing to be considered and submitted self-reported scores, please note that official test scores will be required upon enrollment. Official scores may be submitted either from the testing agency or from the school counselor via email, fax, or school transcript. <em>Any discrepancies from self-reported test scores may result in rescinding your offer of admission.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:200px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-dark-color has-text-color\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Applying to Bates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"widget widget_nav_menu\"><div class=\"menu-apply-i-container\"><ul id=\"menu-apply-i\" class=\"menu\"><li id=\"menu-item-3567\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-3567\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/apply\/application-options\/\">Application Rounds &#038; Timeline<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-9320\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-9320\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/frequently-asked-questions\/\">Frequently Asked Questions<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-7113\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-7113\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/optional-testing\/\">Optional and Required Testing<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-7648\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-7648\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/apply\/international-students\/\">International Applicants<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-17744\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-17744\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/questbridge-and-bates-college\/\">QuestBridge and Bates College<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-8230\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-8230\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/undocumented-daca-applicants\/\">Undocumented &amp; DACA Applicants<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-8287\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-8287\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/home-schooled-students\/\">Homeschooled Applicants<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-12502\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12502\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/apply\/veteran-applicants\/\">Veteran Applicants<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-7649\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-7649\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/transfer-students\/\">Transfer Applicants<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-12577\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-12577\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apply.bates.edu\/account\/login\">Bates Application Portal<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https:\/\/apply.commonapp.org\/Login?ma=29\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Access commonapp.org<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"http:\/\/coalitionforcollegeaccess.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Access MyCoalition<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bates has been a national leader in the test-optional movement for over&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":971,"featured_media":13634,"parent":0,"menu_order":19,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"class_list":["post-4027","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/971"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4027"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17790,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4027\/revisions\/17790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/admission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}