Edison Prep’s founders, Brian and Silvia Eufinger, were one hour into a family Disney World vacation when news of upcoming changes to the ACT came out. Their cell phones began buzzing incessantly. While biding their time in a Magic Kingdom line, Brian registered the domains scienceoptional.com and isscienceoptional.com, knowing ACT’s news could cause an upheaval in the college admissions process.
The first ACT in 1959 was a four-part exam: English, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Natural Sciences. The ACT has had virtually no changes in the 60+ years since, compared to the regular changes to the SAT every 5-10 years. Brian and Silvia wondered: realistically, would elite universities, STEM programs, and competitive merit scholarships really cease to consider the Science section in their admissions processes? Especially after what we’ve observed regarding the word “optional” during the ostensibly “test optional” years where optional meant anything but for most top schools’ admission or merit aid awards?
So, we asked them.
We contacted more than 250 universities in the US regarding their ACT Science policy for the Fall 2026 admissions cycle and beyond, and the Science section has died a very quick death at 95% of schools, compared to the 10-year fadeaway of the ACT essay. Aside from Georgetown, Boston University, Pomona, and (ideally) Duke, 99% of colleges will not require the Science section for class of 2026 and beyond.
Edison Prep is proud to be a founding board member of the National Test Prep Association (NTPA), and has donated its original www.isscienceoptional.com database NTPA’s ever-growing resource database for families. NTPA will continue to track any evolution in Science’s optional vs. mandatory status at major U.S. schools over time!
“Didn’t you guys originally recommend taking ACT Science?”
Many Class of 2027 high flyers started prepping and taking the exam early, before Science policies were clear, and thus most tutors recommended those initial kids take Science “out of an abundance of caution.”
While the ACT essay took 10 years to wither, it was more like 10 days for ACT science. Pomona, Georgetown and Boston U are mandatory, Duke seems to prefer Science if possible (but does not mandate it), and it’s slim aside from that.
The initial research that Edison Prep did matches roughly the same research that Compass and a few other firms did, though hilariously/sadly many schools told us different answers the same day in early 2025 when we emailed and heard from two different admissions officers. The fog since has cleared and it’s basically just those 4 schools that still care.
Why did it die off so quickly?
There are a multitude of possible reasons, but our take is simple: pragmatism given the economic and political environment. Edison Prep’s founders are friends with some admissions officers at two east coast schools whose admissions offices that were pondering requiring the Science section. More or less, the beancounters in the finance department vetoed that and said “no way Jose” since requiring science adds friction to the process and could scare away applicants in the current tenuous economic environment, and with international kids who are cash cows for the university bottom line applying in lower numbers, etc.
So what does this mean for my child?
Given that everyone just has 24 hours in the day and it’s a zero sum game, it would be foolish to divert valuable preparation time away from the three sections (English, Math, Reading) that count at 100% of schools to practice the section that is mandatory at < 1% of schools. It's the same analogy we’ve all used with the ACT essay for the past decade.
How is Edison Prep teaching the Science section going forward for those who want to do so?
We recorded the same detailed science module that we used to teach live during our ACT group class and have made it available asynchronously to all students via our included Teachable videos so that students who are still applying to the four schools that utilize Science still have all of the information. Wouldn’t be right to make the 99% of students sit through the Science module in group class!
Need help with SAT/ACT Prep?
If your student needs help preparing for the SAT or ACT or a free mock test to see which test they’re stronger on, please reach out at 404-333-8573, email [email protected], or read more at www.edisonprep.com/start/!
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