Rachel Kapelke-Dale

How to Get into Baylor: SAT and ACT Scores, GPA and More

how to get into baylor university -magoosh

How do you know if Baylor University is the right place for you? First, take a look at its reputation and what unites its student body. Then, find out more about Baylor admissions and see if your profile makes the school a good fit for you!

In Waco, Texas, Baylor is a Baptist university known for its commitment to service. How committed are they? Students spend 12,000 hours per semester on service projects. Religion is also a focus of life at Baylor, as students take Chapel for two semesters and attend services twice a week. However, there’s room for more religious activity, if that appeals to you: there is a daily campus prayer at noon, as well.

Interested? In this post, we’ll take a look at everything you need to know about how to get into Baylor: Baylor SAT scores, Baylor ACT scores, and Baylor admissions statistics.

To give you a better sense of how to get into Baylor, here’s a quick peek at the numbers:

Baylor SAT Scores (middle 50%) 1210-1370
Baylor ACT Scores (middle 50%) 26-32
Baylor admissions rate 52%
Baylor GPA average 3.6-3.7 (estimated)

Baylor SAT Scores

How high are Baylor SAT scores? First of all, let’s clarify what we mean when we talk about a school’s SAT scores. We can give you an average score (and we will!), but that’s only a little bit helpful. What if half the school’s students score perfect 800s and the other half score 400s? That’s a little bit different than if half score 600s.

With that in mind, always take the middle 50% (also known as the 25th-75th percentile range) of admitted students’ scores into account. If your scores are within—-or higher than—-this range, you stand a good shot in the admissions pool!

With no further ado, here’s the lowdown on Baylor SAT scores.

Section 25th Percentile 75th Percentile
Evidence-Based Reading and Writing 600 680
Math 590 690


What does this tell us about Baylor SAT scores? The Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Baylor SAT scores are 600-680 in the 25th-75th percentile range—pretty high, but achievable with some work. Students admitted to Baylor had an average score in this area of 636. Baylor SAT scores in Math are very similar, with 50% range of 590-690 and an average score of 641.

Baylor ACT Scores

At most schools, the average SAT scores and average ACT scores are pretty similar. How do we know? We can compare percentiles of students achieving a given score. This is true at Baylor; average Baylor ACT scores are pretty comparable to Baylor’s SAT scores. However, depending on your talents, you may score higher on one test than the other—so it’s worth taking a practice test for both to see!

Here are Baylor ACT scores.

Section 25th Percentile 75th Percentile
English 25 34
Math 24 29

Baylor doesn’t provide a breakdown of all sectional scores as with the SAT, so we’re looking at overall (composite) scores here. The average Baylor ACT score for admitted students is 29, with a 25th-75th percentile range of 26-32.

Just like with Baylor SAT scores, these are pretty competitive, but doable with work.

If you’ve already taken the test and gotten a lower score (and it’s too late to retake it), don’t let this prevent you from applying to Baylor! Remember that 25% of admitted students had scores below these ranges—they just made up for it on their applications with recommendations, essays, extracurriculars, and other details.

Baylor Acceptance Rate

Baylor is a relatively competitive school: in the last admissions cycle, they admitted 52% of applicants—slightly more than half. To boost your chances of getting in, make sure you submit the strongest application possible: get your GPA as high as possible; ask your favorite teachers for letters of recommendation; write stellar essays; and boost your test scores!

Baylor GPA Average

Although some sources place Baylor’s GPA average around 3.68, the school itself (and sources like US News & World Report and the College Board) has not provided this information. With that in mind, it’s more helpful to look at class rankings for Baylor admissions: how does your GPA stack up compared to those of your high school classmates?

As a competitive school, 95% of students admitted to Baylor were in the top half of their graduating class. None were from the bottom 25% of their classes. 73% of admitted students were in the top 25% of their high school class, while 40% were in the top 10%.

Baylor Other Admissions Requirements and Info

What requirements does Baylor have for incoming freshman applicants? Take a look:

  • English: 4 years
  • Foreign Language: 2 years
  • Math: 4 years
  • Natural Science: 4 years
  • Social Studies (including at least one in history): 3 years

FAQs

Is Baylor a religious school?
Yes, it is. It is a Christian (Baptist) university, with chapel requirements and daily prayers.

What percentage of Baylor students are Baptist?
Although Baylor is known for its strong religious community, fewer than 30% of students are Baptist.

Does Baylor have rolling admissions?
No, although it does have several admissions options: Early Decision, Early Action, and Regular Admission.

When can you apply to Baylor?
Baylor has different admissions deadlines based on the admissions plan you choose; check out Baylor admissions for more info.

How to Get into Baylor

Get your GPA and class rank up as high as possible. Ask teachers to write you great letters of recommendation early. Make sure your essays are polished and show Baylor admissions why you’d be a great fit. Finally, boost your test scores as high as possible before sending them–Magoosh has a money-back 100-point SAT score increase and a 4-point ACT score increase. Good luck!

Author

  • Rachel Kapelke-Dale

    Rachel is a Magoosh Content Creator. She writes and updates content on our High School and GRE Blogs to ensure students are equipped with the best information during their test prep journey. As a test-prep instructor for more than five years in there different countries, Rachel has helped students around the world prepare for various standardized tests, including the SAT, ACT, TOEFL, GRE, and GMAT, and she is one of the authors of our Magoosh ACT Prep Book. Rachel has a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature from Brown University, an MA in Cinematography from the Université de Paris VII, and a Ph.D. in Film Studies from University College London. For over a decade, Rachel has honed her craft as a fiction and memoir writer and public speaker. Her novel, THE BALLERINAS, is forthcoming in December 2021 from St. Martin’s Press, while her memoir, GRADUATES IN WONDERLAND, co-written with Jessica Pan, was published in 2014 by Penguin Random House. Her work has appeared in over a dozen online and print publications, including Vanity Fair Hollywood. When she isn’t strategically stringing words together at Magoosh, you can find Rachel riding horses or with her nose in a book. Join her on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook!

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