I think there’s too much speculation going on here. I recruit for Yale. Literally, I’m on the front lines for Yale. Yesterday I was in front of 30 kids. My materials plainly state “SAT1 or ACT plus writing” There’s no wink-wink “but we recommend SAT2s” going on. Nada. No where.
The requirement is gone. I’m sure if a student does particularly well, he/she is welcome to submit a SAT2 score as extra enhancement – similar to someone submitting good AP scores for tests taken as a Junior or Sophomore.
But the reality is that Yale no longer requires the SAT2s from anyone and feels fully capable of evaluating and admitting kids – no need to try to read into this.