What are Paine College's admission requirements? While there are a lot of pieces that go into a college application, you should focus on only a few critical things:
In this guide we'll cover what you need to get into Paine College and build a strong application.
School location: Augusta, GA
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If you want to get in, the first thing to look at is the acceptance rate. This tells you how competitive the school is and how serious their requirements are.
The acceptance rate at Paine College is 51.5%. For every 100 applicants, 52 are admitted.
This means the school is moderately selective. The school expects you to meet their requirements for GPA and SAT/ACT scores, but they're more flexible than other schools. If you exceed their requirements, you have an excellent chance of getting in. But if you don't, you might be one of the unlucky minority that gets a rejection letter.
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Many schools specify a minimum GPA requirement, but this is often just the bare minimum to submit an application without immediately getting rejected.
The GPA requirement that really matters is the GPA you need for a real chance of getting in. For this, we look at the school's average GPA for its current students.
The average GPA at Paine College is 2.58.
(Most schools use a weighted GPA out of 4.0, though some report an unweighted GPA.
With a GPA of 2.58, Paine College accepts students with below-average GPAs. You might have a mix of B's and C's in your high school record. It's best to avoid D's and F's, since application readers might question your commitment to studying and ability to succeed in college.
If you're currently a junior or senior, your GPA is hard to change in time for college applications. If your GPA is at or below the school average of 2.58, you'll need a higher SAT or ACT score to compensate. This will help you compete effectively against other applicants who have higher GPAs than you.
Each school has different requirements for standardized testing. Only a few schools require the SAT or ACT, but many consider your scores if you choose to submit them.
Paine College hasn't explicitly named a policy on SAT/ACT requirements, but because it's published average SAT or ACT scores (we'll cover this next), it's likely test flexible. Typically, these schools say, "if you feel your SAT or ACT score represents you well as a student, submit them. Otherwise, don't."
Despite this policy, the truth is that most students still take the SAT or ACT, and most applicants to Paine College will submit their scores. If you don't submit scores, you'll have one fewer dimension to show that you're worthy of being admitted, compared to other students. We therefore recommend that you consider taking the SAT or ACT, and doing well.
Many schools say they have no SAT score cutoff, but the truth is that there is a hidden SAT requirement. This is based on the school's average score.
The average SAT score composite at Paine College is a 830 on the 1600 SAT scale.
This score makes Paine College Lightly Competitive for SAT test scores.
The 25th percentile SAT score is 740, and the 75th percentile SAT score is 930. In other words, a 740 on the SAT places you below average, while a 930 will move you up to above average.
Here's the breakdown of SAT scores by section:
| Section | Average | 25th Percentile | 75th Percentile |
| Math | 410 | 360 | 460 |
| Reading + Writing | 420 | 380 | 470 |
| Composite | 830 | 740 | 930 |
The Score Choice policy at your school is an important part of your testing strategy.
Just like for the SAT, Paine College likely doesn't have a hard ACT cutoff, but if you score too low, your application will get tossed in the trash.
The average ACT score at Paine College is 16. This score makes Paine College Competitive for ACT scores.
The 25th percentile ACT score is 14, and the 75th percentile ACT score is 18.
Even though Paine College likely says they have no minimum ACT requirement, if you apply with a 14 or below, you'll have a harder time getting in, unless you have something else impressive in your application.
If you're taking the ACT as opposed to the SAT, you have a huge advantage in how you send scores, and this dramatically affects your testing strategy.
Here it is: when you send ACT scores to colleges, you have absolute control over which tests you send. You could take 10 tests, and only send your highest one. This is unlike the SAT, where many schools require you to send all your tests ever taken.
This means that you have more chances than you think to improve your ACT score. To try to aim for the school's ACT requirement of 16 and above, you should try to take the ACT as many times as you can. When you have the final score that you're happy with, you can then send only that score to all your schools.
By and large, most colleges do not superscore the ACT. (Superscore means that the school takes your best section scores from all the test dates you submit, and then combines them into the best possible composite score). Thus, most schools will just take your highest ACT score from a single sitting.
We weren't able to find the school's exact ACT policy, which most likely means that it does not Superscore. Regardless, you can choose your single best ACT score to send in to Paine College, so you should prep until you reach our recommended target ACT score of 16.
Currently, only the ACT has an optional essay section that all students can take. The SAT used to also have an optional Essay section, but since June 2021, this has been discontinued unless you are taking the test as part of school-day testing in a few states. Because of this, no school requires the SAT Essay or ACT Writing section, but some schools do recommend certain students submit their results if they have them.
Paine College considers the SAT Essay/ACT Writing section optional and may not include it as part of their admissions consideration. You don't need to worry too much about Writing for this school, but other schools you're applying to may require or recommend it.
Because this school is moderately selective, strong academic performance will almost guarantee you admission. Scoring a 930 SAT or a 18 ACT or above will nearly guarantee you admission. Because the school admits 51.5% of all applicants, being far above average raises the admission rate for you to nearly 100%.
If you can achieve a high SAT/ACT score, the rest of your application essentially doesn't matter. You still need to meet the rest of the application requirements, and your GPA shouldn't be too far off from the school average of 2.58. But you won't need dazzling extracurriculars and breathtaking letters of recommendation to get in. You can get in based on the merits of your score alone.
But if your score is a 740 SAT or a 14 ACT and below, you have a good chance of being one of the unlucky few to be rejected.
We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League.
We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools.
Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in.
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Every school requires an application with the bare essentials - high school transcript and GPA, application form, and other core information. Many schools, as explained above, also require SAT and ACT scores, as well as letters of recommendation, application essays, and interviews. We'll cover the exact requirements of Paine College here.
If you're interested in Paine College, you'll probably be interested in these schools as well. We've divided them into 3 categories depending on how hard they are to get into, relative to Paine College.
These schools are have higher average SAT scores than Paine College. If you improve your SAT score, you'll be competitive for these schools.
| School Name | Location | SAT Avg | ACT Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of North Carolina at Charlotte | Charlotte, NC | 1216 | 23 |
| Hampton University | Hampton, VA | 1059 | 22 |
| California State University Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | 985 | 18 |
| Saint Elizabeth University | Morristown, NJ | 950 | 16 |
| Albertus Magnus College | New Haven, CT | 930 | 22 |
If you're competitive for Paine College, these schools will offer you a similar chance of admission.
| School Name | Location | SAT Avg | ACT Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Southern University | Houston, TX | 912 | 17 |
| California State University San Bernardino | San Bernardino, CA | 900 | 17 |
| California State University Dominguez Hills | Carson, CA | 850 | 21 |
| Livingstone College | Salisbury, NC | 850 | 15 |
| Paul Quinn College | Dallas, TX | 840 | 16 |
| Wiley College | Marshall, TX | 830 | 16 |
| Gallaudet University | Washington, DC | 820 | 15 |
If you're currently competitive for Paine College, you should have no problem getting into these schools. If Paine College is currently out of your reach, you might already be competitive for these schools.
| School Name | Location | SAT Avg | ACT Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medgar Evers College (City University of New York) | Brooklyn, NY | 820 | 14 |
| Albany State University | Albany, GA | 820 | 17 |
| Lane College | Jackson, TN | 780 | 15 |
| Bloomfield College | Bloomfield, NJ | 629 | 17 |
| McPherson College | McPherson, KS | 545 | 21 |
Data on this page is sourced from Peterson's Databases © 2024 (Peterson's LLC. All rights reserved.) as well as additional publicly available sources.
We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League.
We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools.
Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in.
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