What are William Paterson University'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 William Paterson University and build a strong application.
School location: Wayne, NJ
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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 William Paterson University is 94%. For every 100 applicants, 94 are admitted.
This means the school is a nearly open admissions school. They accept nearly all students, so for the most part, you just need to submit an application to get in. But if you don't meet all their application requirements, you'll be one of the very few people who gets rejected.
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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.
You've got the stats for this college, but does your narrative make you stand out?
Work 1-on-1 with our college admissions consultants to craft a college application that gets you admitted.
The average GPA at William Paterson University is 2.97.
(Most schools use a weighted GPA out of 4.0, though some report an unweighted GPA.
With a GPA of 2.97, William Paterson University 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.
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.
William Paterson University has indicated that the SAT or ACT is required for some applicants. This can mean a few things:
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 William Paterson University is a 1030 on the 1600 SAT scale.
This score makes William Paterson University Lightly Competitive for SAT test scores.
The 25th percentile SAT score is 930, and the 75th percentile SAT score is 1120. In other words, a 930 on the SAT places you below average, while a 1120 will move you up to above average.
Here's the breakdown of SAT scores by section:
| Section | Average | 25th Percentile | 75th Percentile |
| Math | 510 | 460 | 550 |
| Reading + Writing | 520 | 470 | 570 |
| Composite | 1030 | 930 | 1120 |
The Score Choice policy at your school is an important part of your testing strategy.
Just like for the SAT, William Paterson University 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 William Paterson University is 21. This score makes William Paterson University Moderately Competitive for ACT scores.
The 25th percentile ACT score is 18, and the 75th percentile ACT score is 24.
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 18 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 William Paterson University, so you should prep until you reach our recommended target ACT score of 18.
Download our free guide on the top 5 strategies you must be using to improve your score. This guide was written by Harvard graduates and ACT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you'll study smarter and make huge score improvements.
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.
William Paterson University 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.
You've got the stats for this college, but does your narrative make you stand out?
Work 1-on-1 with our college admissions consultants to craft a college application that gets you admitted.
This school offers nearly open admissions, which means they give almost every student an offer of admission. To be safe, you should aim for a 930 SAT or a 18 ACT or higher. If you can achieve this, you're pretty much guaranteed a spot in the incoming class.
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 William Paterson University here.
If you're interested in William Paterson University, 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 William Paterson University.
These schools are have higher average SAT scores than William Paterson University. If you improve your SAT score, you'll be competitive for these schools.
| School Name | Location | SAT Avg | ACT Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado State University | Fort Collins, CO | 1178 | 26 |
| California State University Long Beach | Long Beach, CA | 1145 | 23 |
| Washington State University | Pullman, WA | 1130 | 23 |
| University of Texas at San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | 1120 | 22 |
| Florida Gulf Coast University | Fort Myers, FL | 1110 | 23 |
| University of North Texas | Denton, TX | 1110 | 23 |
| Texas State University | San Marcos, TX | 1080 | 23 |
If you're competitive for William Paterson University, these schools will offer you a similar chance of admission.
| School Name | Location | SAT Avg | ACT Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| California State University Sacramento | Sacramento, CA | 1035 | 19 |
| Kean University | Union, NJ | 1030 | 18 |
| Texas A&M University - Kingsville | Kingsville, TX | 1030 | 20 |
| California State University Chico | Chico, CA | 1025 | 27 |
| California State University Northridge | Northridge, CA | 1020 | 19 |
| California State University San Marcos | San Marcos, CA | 1020 | 22 |
| California State University Fresno | Fresno, CA | 1010 | 19 |
If you're currently competitive for William Paterson University, you should have no problem getting into these schools. If William Paterson University is currently out of your reach, you might already be competitive for these schools.
| School Name | Location | SAT Avg | ACT Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| California State University Fullerton | Fullerton, CA | 990 | 22 |
| University of Texas at Brownsville | Brownsville, TX | 990 | 19 |
| California State University Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | 985 | 18 |
| State University of New York College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill | Cobleskill, NY | 970 | 20 |
| Alabama State University | Montgomery, AL | 954 | 18 |
| California State University San Bernardino | San Bernardino, CA | 900 | 17 |
| Idaho State University | Pocatello, ID | 875 | 22 |
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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