Augustana (SD) SAT Scores, GPA, and ACT (2026)

Augustana University is a private nonprofit university in Sioux Falls, SD, with about 1,965 students, and Augustana (SD) SAT scores tell a clear story about who gets in. The middle 50 percent of admitted students scored between 1150 and 1370 on the SAT in the 2024-2025 cycle, with an average of 1195. With fewer than 2,000 students, this is a small campus, small enough that admissions can read applications closely rather than sort them by a single cutoff number.

About 67.8% of applicants are admitted, which means roughly 2 out of 3 students who apply get an offer. That rate makes Augustana accessible, but the score range still matters. A 1150 puts you at the 25th percentile of admitted students, and a 1370 puts you at the 75th. Testing is optional here in the most recent federal data, so you decide whether your score goes in the file. If your number sits inside or above that 1150 to 1370 band, sending it strengthens your application. If it sits well below, you can hold it back and let your grades carry more weight. For ACT takers, the middle 50 runs from 21 to 27, so the same logic applies on that scale.

Read the 1150 to 1370 range in 3 zones. Below 1150, you are behind 3 out of 4 admitted students on this measure. Since Augustana is test optional in the most recent federal data, a score down there is usually better left unsent. Inside the range, from 1150 to 1370, you look like a typical admit, and with a 67.8% acceptance rate, typical is a solid place to be. Above 1370, your score beats at least 3 out of 4 admitted students and becomes a genuine asset, both for admission and for standing out in a class of fewer than 2,000.

The section splits are close but not identical. Math runs 580 to 690 among the middle 50 percent, while Reading and Writing runs 570 to 680. Math sets the slightly higher bar at both ends, by 10 points. If your practice tests show a Math section lagging behind Reading and Writing, that is the gap to close first, because it is the section where admitted students post the stronger numbers.

Admitted students at Augustana typically present an unweighted GPA somewhere around 3.3 to 3.7. That band lines up with a school admitting 67.8% of applicants: strong B and A minus students make up the bulk of the class, with plenty of room above and below. You do not need a perfect transcript to be a serious candidate here.

What matters as much as the number is where it came from. A 3.5 earned in honors and AP classes reads better than a 3.7 built on the easiest schedule your high school offers. Admissions readers weigh rigor alongside the GPA itself, so keep taking challenging courses even if it costs you a few hundredths of a point. And if your GPA sits at the lower edge of that 3.3 to 3.7 band, the fastest offset is a strong SAT. A score near the top of Augustana's 1150 to 1370 range gives the committee hard evidence that you can handle college level work, no matter what your transcript says.

Set 2 targets. First, get to 1150 or above. That keeps you inside the range where the middle half of Augustana admits landed, and it makes your score worth sending under the test optional policy. Second, if you want your score to do real work for you, aim for 1370 or higher, which puts you in the top quarter of admitted students. Between those 2 numbers, every 50 point gain moves you up the pool.

By section, that means pushing Math toward 690 and Reading and Writing toward 680 for a top quarter profile. Most students cannot fix both sections at once, so sequence the work: our score plans break a target like 1370 into weekly practice blocks based on where you are now. If you have not tested recently, start with a diagnostic to see how your current sections stack up against Augustana's 570 to 680 and 580 to 690 splits. Your concrete next step: take that diagnostic this week, compare your section scores to those 2 ranges, and build your plan around the weaker one.