Bethel (MN) SAT Scores, GPA, and ACT (2026)

Start with the section splits, because Bethel (MN) SAT scores lean slightly toward Reading and Writing: the middle 50 percent of admitted students scored 610 to 650 on that section and 580 to 650 on Math. Put together, the composite middle 50 runs 1190 to 1300, and the average sits at 1249. Notice how the two sections share the same 650 ceiling but not the same floor. The Math 25th percentile is 30 points lower, which tells you a 590 in Math survives the admit pool more often than a 590 in Reading and Writing does.

Bethel University is a private nonprofit university in Saint Paul, MN, with 1,871 students enrolled, so classes stay on the small side of what most applicants compare it against. Admissions reflect that access oriented mission: 87.8% of applicants got in per the 2024-2025 cycle data. Testing is optional in the most recent federal data, which means the scores above describe students who chose to submit, not everyone who applied. On the ACT side, the middle 50 runs 22 to 28. With nearly 9 out of 10 applicants admitted, the score ranges here work less as a gate and more as a benchmark for merit consideration and placement.

With an 87.8% admission rate, the middle 50 numbers at Bethel work differently than they would at a selective school. Below 1190, you are under the 25th percentile of enrolled submitters, but since testing is optional in the most recent federal data, the practical move is often to withhold the score rather than fear a rejection. Inside the 1190 to 1300 range, you match the typical admitted student, and submitting strengthens the file. Above 1300, you clear 3 out of 4 admitted students, and that score starts doing work beyond admission, particularly for merit review.

The section splits set two different bars. Reading and Writing demands 610 just to reach the 25th percentile, while Math asks only 580. Both cap at 650 for the 75th. So a balanced 620 and 620 clears both floors, but a 640 Reading and Writing paired with a 560 Math leaves the Math side exposed. For most applicants here, Reading and Writing is the section that decides whether the composite lands inside the range.

Admitted students at Bethel University typically present an unweighted GPA around 3.0 to 3.5. That is a wide band, and it matches what an 87.8% admission rate implies: the school admits students across a broad academic range rather than filtering hard at the top. A transcript in the low 3s keeps you squarely in the conversation here.

What matters as much as the number is where the grades came from. A 3.2 earned in honors and AP sections reads stronger than a 3.4 built on the lightest available schedule, and admissions offices weigh course rigor alongside the raw average. If your GPA lands at the lower edge of that 3.0 to 3.5 band, the fastest offset is a strong SAT. A composite at or above the 1249 average, or better yet near the 1300 mark at the 75th percentile, gives the file a second data point that argues your transcript undersells you.

Set two concrete targets. First, 1190: at or above the 25th percentile keeps you inside the range Bethel admits from, with section floors of 610 Reading and Writing and 580 Math. Second, 1300: at or above the 75th percentile puts you in the top quarter of admitted students, which matters at a school where the composite average is 1249 and merit decisions reward standing out. If you are working from the ACT instead, the equivalent posts are 22 and 28.

How to get there depends on where you start. Take a diagnostic to find your current composite and see which section is dragging, since the fix for a 570 Math looks nothing like the fix for a 590 Reading and Writing. Then use score plans to map the point gap into a weekly schedule you can actually keep. Your next step: sit for a full timed practice test this week and score it against the 1190 floor.