Required Standardized Testing

Standardized tests are required for admission according to the following guidelines; all test scores must be submitted directly to Columbia by the testing agency. Please note that Columbia requires that students submit scores from all test dates.

You must register with the appropriate testing agency (either the Educational Testing Service-ETS or the American College Testing Program-ACT) well in advance of the date on which you wish to be tested. You may take standardized tests as late as November for Early Decision and January for Regular Decision but you must be sure to request that your scores be reported directly to Columbia every time you take a standardized test. The appropriate ETS code is 2116; the ACT codes are 2717 for Columbia College and 2719 for Columbia Engineering. Please note that scores reported to Columbia's School of General Studies (2095), Columbia's School of Continuing Education (2154), or Barnard College (2038), will not reach our office and will not be considered for evaluation. Columbia reserves the right not to evaluate a candidate whose scores are not reported directly by the testing agency. Please do not utilize the "rush" service in sending your test scores to Columbia; doing so does not speed up the processing of your test scores. We obtain all testing via a secure web site to which we are provided access by the appropriate testing agency.

Columbia's Testing Policy for Score Choice

Columbia has always expected applicants to report all required standardized testing for which they have sat and will continue to do so for 2009-2010.The application review process for Columbia College and The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science is rooted in the belief that students are dynamic, multi-faceted individuals who cannot be defined by any single factor to determine their suitability for admission. When evaluating applicants, we consider only the highest testing results reported from individual sections of the SAT (or the highest Composite on the ACT), and the two highest required SAT Subject Tests, always seeking to give students the greatest opportunity to showcase their academic talents and hoping to make the testing experience as stress-free as possible. We encourage applicants to take those examinations no more than twice, but we do not penalize applicants for exceeding that recommendation.

Students should officially submit all scores from all sittings of the SAT and SAT Subject Tests. Students may submit only their highest ACT composite score officially and self-report other ACT scores by adding them to the Additional Information section of the application. While the College Board sends a cumulative record of all testing for one fee, the ACT requires separate fees for each test date; we do not want ACT takers to incur greater costs, so applicants may officially report only their highest ACT Composite (with subscores) and self-report all other ACT scores.