Test-optional worked out fine for my S22. He got a 1400 (700/700) on the SAT, and submitted it to Fordham but not to NYU. Got into both and is now attending NYU. It’s somewhat ridiculous that a 1400 is now a score to be embarrassed about at some schools, but this is the world we live in.
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I disagree. You should not have used the word “somewhat”! 
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The more that schools remain test optional the higher their average test scores will be, as only those with tippy top scores will submit them.
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Many of you probably know I am a tutor. A significant proportion of my work centers on test prep. The students I have worked with since the start of the pandemic have all got into multiple colleges.
In the beginning, a lot of kids I worked with were shut out of tests. There are a lot more students applying test optional now than before the pandemic, for obvious reasons. The key to having choices when May 1 comes is to have a balanced list. Kids I work with are applying more widely, to more schools. But they do have choices.
I have actually downplayed tests to my students. I believe essays and other elements of the app are more important now that tests are (for the last couple of cycles at least) de-emphasized. I have definitely had fewer test prep students than pre-pandemic, which isn’t a bad thing. As long as colleges continue to make tests optional, which more and more are doing, fewer students will take these tests. It means some students will have more time to focus on other parts of their lives and their applications. But kids who are aiming high will continue to take tests, until such time colleges no longer require them. This might happen in the next few years.
On the other hand, if colleges feel they need another “objective” differentiator (MIT as an example), colleges may well start pressuring urge kids to submit scores. My instinct is that the test are going the way of the dinosaur, but that remains to be seen.
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Thanks for your insight. My daughter responded to the new “Pandemic” rules by deciding not to spend time preparing for the tests, and just took them to see how she’d do. (720/670 and 32). She’s not going to submit them b/c many of her desired schools, her score would fall below the 2026 median. This seems bizarre to me 
but she is the captain of this ship. I hope that these tests go the way of the dinosaur! I’m hiding my nervousness about this Brave New World of test optionality.
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D23 has applied test optional at the three schools to which she applied this year.
She has received her first acceptance with great merit offer. As it was one of her top choices, she is already very happy with the process.
I will say she spent a ton of time on her essays, especially the supplementals. She wanted to make sure every part of her application was as strong as it could be since she wasn’t adding test score information.
She did choose ultimately only to apply to the schools where she felt she could write really good supplemental essays - she had two other schools on her list she ultimately didn’t apply to because she didn’t like the supplemental essay prompts and decided that meant those schools weren’t a good match for her.
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My D22 applied test optional to most of her schools. It worked pretty well for her! She got into Northeastern, Lafayette College, Loyola Marymount, Univ of Washington, Gonzaga, transfer option to Cornell, Mich State, and ASU all test optional. Her test blind schools were UCDavis, UCSB, and Cal Poly Slo (where she is attending).
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Our D22 applied without test scores as the tests near us were all canceled during the pandemic.
Accepted: Scripps, Oberlin, Skidmore, Connecticut College, Bard, Lewis & Clark, Fordham, UVM.
Waitlisted: Macalester
Denied: Barnard, Vassar, Yale, Stanford
Accepted (test-blind school): UC Berkeley
She decided on Oberlin and is soooo happy there so far!
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My son applied test optional and has already been accepted to U Tampa and Jacksonville U with nice merit awards.
College professor as well. The three hour slots at my institution are quite rare, and are mostly graduate student-level classes. Most three-hour classes have 150-minute contact counterparts spread throughout the week. Schools that cater to adult education, etc., may have more robust offerings in the three-hour time slots, but these are not standard. I took some as an undergrad in the '90s, before the university was as uber student focused as it is now, and the professors would give a break and end early. Best of both worlds.
My exams are 2 hour slots.
There will be plenty of other options for your child, so don’t worry.
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I helped a small group of my friends kids with their college apps and everyone had great results. Those that submitted SAT scores received significantly higher sholarships than those who didn’t….even though their GPAs were lower. Not at every school, but enough to make the parents and I notice.
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I have also observed that those with standardized test scores have seemingly gotten more merit aid from the same schools in comparison to students who applied test optional, but both groups have done well with admissions decisions. I have been recommending to parents that kids should still attempt to take and do well on standardized testing if receiving merit aid is important to affording college.
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Is this trend happening at large state schools or smaller private schools?
My D will be college Class of 2025. She applied test optional 2 years ago and did very well. She was accepted at both Tulane and Vanderbilt . I was pleased how test optional turned out as my D finds standardized tests very stressful. She is a sophomore now and has been on Deans List so she is handling the load just fine. I hope Test Optional is here to stay.
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My observation too but a very unscientific observation on my conclusion. I would love to know if there is truth to this as hopefully college’s will address this and level the playing field.
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My D26 applied to some of her schools test optional:
Pitt, accepted with small merit and attending
Udel with Pres merit
Duquesne
UofSC
JMU
Clemson
Temple
Penn State (rejected Nursing)
Villanova (deferred then rejected Nursing)
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I think test optional admissions is here to stay for the vast majority of schools. I suspect that schools will track undergrad GPA and other metrics and will get even better at selecting students without standardized testing over time.
What the ACT/SAT do is give adcoms one way to compare kids with similar GPA and rigor, and in so doing, figure out which high schools engage in grade inflation.
Assuming similar rigor:
Kid A has a 4.0 and scored 1300 on the SAT
Kid B also has a 4.0 and scored 1500 on the SAT
Which one is likely a more prepared candidate?
While scores aren’t perfect, and some kids simply test poorly (but then why on the SAT, and not in class…?), I think the test is another data point that can help selective colleges analyze the applicants and choose their admits.
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D21 (College Class 2025) applied test optional b/c her SAT was cancelled 3 times so she never took it. I think it worked in her favor b/c she’s not great with standardized exams.
She was admitted to Northeastern, NYU, Clemson, Virginia Tech, George Washington, College of Charleston, UMASS Amherst, DePaul, JMU. Offered Honors College at at C of C and JMU (I don’t think she applied to any others) and merit scholarships at GWU, VT, CofC and DePaul.
Rejected at Cornell, UNC, Tulane and BU (offered guaranteed transfer at BU).
My friends and I have also noticed this, and I’ve heard it mentioned on multiple occasions on CC. However, this is just based on general observation. As at @Breagh said, I hope that if submitting a good score will in fact improve merit opportunities, college’s will be transparent about that metric.
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