SAT essay no longer highly recommended?

Last year Binghamton’s admissions site said that the SAT essay was not required but is highly recommended. I just looked again, and it simply says that the SAT essay is not required. i.e. they seemed to have dropped the “highly recommended” part. Did anyone else notice this? I just want to make sure that I’m not missing something and that they no longer consider the essay as recommended. Thanks!

From the SUNY website:

https://www.binghamton.edu/admissions/info/test-policy.html

Take them at their word. Many many colleges in the last few weeks have eliminate the requirements/recommendations for the essay part of SAT/ACT.

So my son is taking the SAT this Saturday and he signed up for the essay section (thinking Duke required it when signing up), can he drop the essay part or it’s better just to go through it and don’t think much about it? @skieurope

I’m not sure he can change the test type online - he needs to check the deadline on the admissions ticket. He may be able to change the test type on Saturday, but that’s up to the discretion of the test center based on available materials/space. If all else fails, he should just take the test with essay. @makemesmart
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register/policies-requirements/changes

My son dropped the essay part the day of his exam earlier this year. He did it at the test site that morning.