Important Dates for 2020-21 College Entrance Tests

If you have a junior or senior in your homeschool family this year, make sure you know these important dates for 2020-21 college entrance tests. The ACT has just four remaining test dates for the current school year, while the SAT offers five tests.

Upcoming SAT Test Dates (Registration Deadline)
November 7, 2020 (October 7, 2020
December 5, 2020 (November 5, 2020)
March 13, 2021 (February 12, 2021)
May 8, 2020 (April 8, 2021)
June 5, 2020 (May 6, 2021)

Upcoming ACT Test Dates (Registration Deadline)
December 12, 2020 (November 6, 2020)
April 17, 2021 (March 12, 2021)
June 12, 20210 (May 7, 2021)
July 17, 2021 (June 18, 2021)

Although tests are being given at many sites, some students have struggled to register with certain testing centers closing due to the coronavirus and others reducing capacity. As a result, some colleges have gone completely test blind when determining admissions. For example, Dickinson College, a liberal arts school in Pennsylvania, previously listed test scores as optional, but this year, they are ignoring them completely.

For Catherine McDonald Davenport, the vice president for enrollment management and dean of admissions at the college, removing an emphasis from testing is a good thing.

“When students and families hear ‘optional,’ a lot of them transfer the word to ‘required,’” McDonald Davenport told Inside Higher Ed. “The pandemic has caused us to pause, and I really hope higher ed will look at the craziness.”