Submit or Withhold Worksheet

Fill one submit or withhold call per school here. Use this order. A school, program, or scholarship that requires a score comes first. Test-blind comes next: do not send a score the school will not consider. A published median is context only after those gates, and only when the school actually reports one. The 50th percentile is the median only when the school reports one. It is not the midpoint of the 25th and 75th percentiles, and it is not the bottom of the middle 50% range. Do not invent a median from that range. Common Data Set Section C9 is the usual source for current SAT and ACT 25th / 50th / 75th figures. Which sittings to send lives on the score send worksheet. Confirm the current policy on the school site before you apply.

Your score

• SAT or ACT score I would submit (use the superscore if the school superscores):
• If I have both tests, which score I would use as context vs the school's published 50th, only when the school reports one. This is not a submit or withhold cutoff:

Policy types

• Test-required: the school requires a score. Submit what that policy requires. A median does not withhold it.
• Test-optional: you choose, after you have checked program and scholarship rules. No submission is not an automatic penalty.
• Test-blind: scores are not reviewed even if you send them. Do not submit, and do not use a median.
• Test-flexible: other evidence (AP, IB) may stand in for SAT/ACT. Confirm that on the school page.

School rows

Find the 50th percentile in the Common Data Set (Section C9) or the school's class profile. Merit cutoffs live on the scholarship page, not the admissions page.

Routing check

These lines are the decision order. They are not point-gap cutoffs. A median comparison is school-specific and is not a universal withhold rule.

1. If the school requires a score, submit what that policy requires. Stop. Do not use a median to withhold it.
2. If a program requires a score even when the school is test-optional, follow the program rule before any median.
3. If a scholarship or merit rule requires a score, follow that cutoff before any median.
4. If the school is test-blind, do not submit. Do not use a median.
5. If testing is optional and no median is published, do not invent one from a middle-50 range.
6. If testing is optional and a median is published, treat it as context only.

Acceptance cases

• School requires testing. Submit what that policy requires (the school requires a score). A median, including a score below it, does not withhold a required score.
• Program requires testing, school is test-optional. Submit what that policy requires (the program requires a score). A median, including a score below it, does not withhold a required score.
• Scholarship requires a score. Submit what that policy requires (a scholarship or merit rule requires a score). A median, including a score below it, does not withhold a required score.
• Test-blind school. Do not submit. This school or program will not consider the score. Do not use a median.
• Test-optional, median published. Testing is optional and a median is published. Treat that median as context only. A score above it is not a rule to submit, and a score below it is not a rule to withhold.
• Test-optional, no median published. Testing is optional and no median is published. Do not invent a median from a middle-50 range. Use the school's written policy as context, not a point-gap rule.

• I used the 50th percentile (median), not the bottom of the middle 50%
• I checked merit or honors cutoffs before any withhold
• I checked program-specific cutoffs (nursing, engineering, business) where they exist

The routing examples and Jasmine walkthrough live in the test-optional score guide.

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