Black Hills State SAT Scores, GPA, and ACT (2026)

The middle 50 percent of Black Hills State SAT scores runs from 965 to 1135, and landing anywhere inside that range means you match the students this school already admits. Black Hills State SAT scores cluster around an average of 1087, so a score in the low 1100s puts you right at the center of an admitted class, not scraping in at the bottom. With 96.3% of applicants accepted in the most recent federal data, the score question here is less about getting in and more about arriving ready for college coursework and positioning yourself for scholarship money.

Black Hills State University is a public university in Spearfish, SD, with 1,928 students enrolled. That is a small campus by public university standards, roughly the size of a large high school, which shapes the experience more than the admit rate does. The section splits tell a specific story too: admitted students post 465 to 565 in Reading and Writing and 500 to 570 in Math, so Math runs about 35 points hotter at the 25th percentile. On the ACT side, the middle 50 percent sits at 18 to 24. Testing is optional here in the most recent federal data, but a solid score still works in your favor.

Read the 965 to 1135 range in 3 zones. Below 965 puts you under 3 out of 4 admitted students. With a 96.3% acceptance rate you can still get in, but you would enter below the academic center of the class, and merit aid becomes harder to reach. Inside the range, say 1000 to 1100, you look like a typical Black Hills State admit, and every 50 points you climb strengthens a scholarship case. Above 1135 lands you in the top quarter of the incoming class, which is where the leverage sits at a school this open: not admission itself, but money and placement.

The sections are not symmetric. Math runs 500 to 570 while Reading and Writing runs 465 to 565, so Math sets the higher floor by 35 points. A student splitting 550 Math and 500 Reading and Writing fits the admitted profile better than the reverse split, even though both total 1050. If your Math score is the weak side, that is the section to fix first.

Admitted students at Black Hills State typically present an unweighted GPA around 3.0 to 3.5. That band is wide on purpose. A 3.1 with honors chemistry and precalculus on the transcript reads differently than a 3.5 built entirely on the easiest available schedule. Grades earned in rigorous courses count as much as the number itself, so the smarter move through junior year is holding a B or better in harder classes rather than protecting an A in soft ones.

If your GPA sits at the lower edge of that band, a strong SAT is the fastest offset. Grades take semesters to move. A test score can jump 100 points or more in a few months of focused work. At a school where the SAT average is 1087, showing up with 1135 or better, the 75th percentile mark, gives an admissions reader a concrete reason to look past a transcript that started slow.

Set 2 concrete targets. Scoring at or above 965 keeps you inside the admitted range, and with a 96.3% admit rate that is enough to feel secure about the application. Scoring at or above 1135 puts you in the top quarter of the class, which is the number to chase if you want Black Hills State to compete for you rather than the other way around. Between those, the average of 1087 is a sensible checkpoint for a first practice test.

Work the sections in order. Get Math to 570, the 75th percentile there, before polishing Reading and Writing past 565, because Math is where this school's admitted students separate. Our score plans break a target like 1135 into weekly section goals so the gap stops feeling abstract. Before any of that, take a diagnostic to find out where you actually stand against the 965 to 1135 range. Take it this week, then build your plan from the real number, not a guess.