“This is an unprecedented moment for students and colleges alike and it calls for a change to the usual way of doing things,” Liz Creighton, the dean of admission and financial aid at Williams, said in a statement on April 6.

The same day that Williams made the exams optional, so did its rival, Amherst.

“If future test dates are not available in students’ local areas or if students are worried about how to test in a socially distant manner, we do not want them to feel pressure to put themselves in situations that are not in their best interest,” Matt McGann, the dean of admission and financial aid at Amherst, said in a statement. “And we wanted to provide clarity and ease anxiety as soon as we could.”

The College Board, which administers the SAT, said on May 12 that it supports colleges “that are rightfully emphasizing flexibility for the admissions process for next year” and noted that the organization’s “responsibility is to ensure that every student has the option and the opportunity to take the SAT.”

“As many colleges are considering temporary shifts to test-flexible and test-optional admissions policies due to the coronavirus, it is important that they help students understand how these changes will impact admission, access to specialized programs, and scholarships,” the College Board said.

A spokesman for the ACT said it “respects the right of every college to determine its own admission policies, particularly in the midst of a crisis such as Covid-19 where flexibility and managing disruption is paramount,” while noting that “despite the immediate effects of Covid19 on admissions, it is clear that ACT scores add meaningful insight and significant value above and beyond other factors used in the college admission process.”

“We are committed to supporting students’ needs for obtaining an ACT score during these trying times by working to provide them with multiple options to take the test,” the spokesman said.

In the Boston area, Tufts, Northeastern and Boston University have all adopted an optional-testing policy.