How to Get into George Washington University: SAT and ACT Scores, GPA and More

Have you been watching old episodes of West Wing with more than a tinge of envy? George Washington University might be for you. If the name didn’t already give it away, George Washington University is in Washington, D.C., and has an excellent reputation in political science (among other areas). Located near the State Department, GW’s only a mile away from the Washington Monument—if you’re a fan of the man, you can’t beat the school for proximity! George Washington University is also known for its Greek system (about a quarter of students are involved), as well as its outdoor excursion programs.

Are you a budding politico with a yen for sorority life and a taste for kayaking? Read on for more about George Washington University admissions and how to get into George Washington University, including George Washington University SAT scores and George Washington University ACT scores.

Overview of George Washington University Admissions

George Washington University SAT Scores

GW is a pretty competitive school, and its standardized testing scores back this up. Students can submit either SAT or ACT scores, so be sure to submit those that show you off in the best light! Ideally, those would be those that fall in the middle 50th percentile (also known as the 25th-75th percentile range) of admitted students…or even higher!

What kind of George Washington University SAT scores are we talking about? Take a look.

Now that you’ve seen the numbers, let’s break them down a little. George Washington University SAT scores in Evidence-Based Reading and Writing had a 50th percentile range of 640-720. Pretty high, considering that this is a 200-800 point scale. The average score is 677. This goes up when you look at George Washington University SAT scores in Math: the average score is 689. This has an effect on the middle 50th percentile of scores in Math, which is 640-740.

What does this tell us about George Washington University admissions? They’re looking for students with well-balanced test scores. Your scores don’t have to be identical to get in, of course (that would be pretty unlikely!), but it’s a good idea to try to get them within a 100-point range of one another.

George Washington University ACT Scores

Like a lot of schools, the difference between George Washington University ACT scores and George Washington University SAT scores isn’t that big in terms of competitiveness. What this means for you is that you should absolutely take the test at which you’ll do better! Here’s the run-down of GW scores:

The average George Washington University ACT score overall is 30, with a 50th percentile range of 29-32. Pretty high! Another interesting thing in this case is that the sectional scores differ a bit. George Washington University ACT scores in English fall between 30-35 (middle 50%), but George Washington University ACT scores in Math fall between 26-31 (middle 50%). Of course, those are still high scores overall, but they do tell us that GW students submitting ACT scores tend to be slightly stronger in English than Math.

George Washington University Acceptance Rate

In the last admissions cycle, George Washington University accepted 42% of applicants—about 2/5 of those who applied. This is pretty competitive! If you’re certain that GW is your first-choice school, you might consider applying early decision: the George Washington University admissions rate for early decision applicants was 70%, which is a pretty significant boost.

George Washington University GPA Average

The average GPA of students admitted to George Washington University is 3.85. However, that doesn’t tell us a whole lot. It’s high, yes—but what does it mean for you? First things first: if you’re not sure what your GPA is or how to calculate it, check out Magoosh’s post on GPA calculations.

Some useful numbers in admissions are class rankings: how does your GPA stack up compared to the rest of your high school class? At GW, no students were admitted in the bottom 25% of their high school class, while only 2% were admitted who were between the 25th and 50th percentiles of their high school class. That means that 98% of admitted students were in the top half of their high school class; 88% were in the top 25% of their high school classes, while an outstanding 56% were in the top 10% of theirs.

What should you do if your GPA doesn’t place you within this range? Make sure the rest of your application is outstanding. Boost your test scores as high as possible; get awesome letters of recommendations; make sure you polish those essays until they gleam. If GW’s your dream school, you should definitely apply—just give yourself your best shot!

George Washington University Freshmen Profile

So who are George Washington University freshmen? This past year, there were 2,845 entering freshman: 1,814 women and 1,031 men. There’s definitely a strong female twist to the entering class, but this reflects the applicant pool.

Another perspective on the class of 2023? Here’s Costas Solomou, dean of admissions, on the individuals:

George Washington University Other Admissions Requirements and Info

George Washington University admissions uses the Common Application, which can be great news if you’re applying to other institutions that use it! Make sure, though, that you complete any essays and information GW asks for on it. For example, GW asks for a supplemental writing sample—make sure you give yourself plenty of time to prepare!

One important thing to note is that GW is test-optional. Unless you were homeschooled, go to a school that doesn’t use a standard grading scale, are applying to an accelerated program, or are a recruited athlete, you don’t have to submit SAT or ACT scores! However, if you do well on these tests, it can help your application to submit them, particularly if there are weaknesses in other areas of your app.

FAQs

Is George Washington University Ivy League?
GW is not part of the Ivy League. If it’s your dream school, that can be a big plus—it’s significantly less competitive than the Ivy League schools.

What majors is George Washington University known for?
It may not surprise you to learn that social sciences is among the most popular majors at GW. Other popular majors include Business, Management, Marketing, Engineering, and Journalism (among others!).

Does George Washington University have Early Action?
It does not—but it does have Early Decision I (deadline in early November) and Early Decision II (deadline in early January) programs. The difference? Early Decision programs are binding, while Early Action programs are not.

Does George Washington University do interviews?
They don’t, but each geographic area has its own admissions representative for GW, and you can contact them with questions.

How to Get into George Washington University

How to get into George Washington University? Plan early: make sure your Common App essays and writing sample are awesome; get your GPA and class rank as high as possible; and ask for great letters of recommendation. Submitting awesome test scores in the George Washington University ACT score range or SAT score range may also help (did you know that Magoosh has an up to 100-point SAT score increase and an up to 4-point score guarantee for the ACT?). Good luck!