BYU SAT Scores, GPA, and ACT (2026)

About 68 of every 100 applicants get into Brigham Young University, so BYU SAT scores matter less as a gatekeeper and more as a signal of where you stand in the class. The BYU SAT scores that define the middle 50 of admitted students run from 1270 to 1460, with an average of 1376. A 67.8% acceptance rate means most qualified applicants get an offer, but the admitted pool still tests well above the national norm. Put plainly: for every 100 students who apply, about 68 get in and about 32 do not. The test rarely decides that split on its own. It tells the committee where you sit among people who are already likely to be admitted.

BYU is a private nonprofit university in Provo, Utah, and it is big: 32,952 students, a scale closer to a state flagship than a typical private school. The section splits are nearly even. Reading and Writing runs 640 to 730 in the middle 50, Math runs 630 to 730. On the ACT, the middle 50 runs 28 to 32. Testing is optional at BYU in the most recent federal data, from the 2024-2025 cycle, so a submitted score is a choice you make when it helps you. That changes strategy in one specific way: the ranges above describe students who chose to send scores, so the bar for a useful score sits at the range itself, not below it.

Read the range in 3 zones. Below 1270 puts you under 3 out of 4 admitted students, and with testing optional, a score down there is usually better left unsent. Inside 1270 to 1460 you match the typical admit, and the rest of your application carries the decision. Above 1460 puts you in the top quarter of the class, a clear plus at a school where most applicants are admissible. The 1376 average sits almost exactly in the middle of the band, which tells you the admitted scores spread evenly rather than piling up at one end.

The section bars sit close together, but Reading and Writing sets the slightly higher one: its 25th percentile is 640 against 630 for Math, and both sections top out at 730. In practice that means you cannot lean on one section to carry the other. A lopsided 780 Math with a 560 in Reading and Writing lands below range on the side BYU sees more of. Balance beats a single spike here. Two sections near 700 read better than one at 780 and one at 600, even though the totals come out close.

Admitted students at BYU typically show an unweighted GPA around 3.3 to 3.7. That band is wider than at highly rejective schools, which fits a 67.8% acceptance rate: BYU admits strong students, not only perfect ones. A wider band also means more of the class looks like you. Plenty of admits carry a 3.4 next to a solid test score, and plenty carry a 3.7 next to a quieter one.

The number on your transcript is only half the read. Grades earned in rigorous courses count as much as the GPA itself, so a 3.5 built on honors and AP work reads better than a 3.7 built on the easiest schedule available. If your GPA sits at the lower edge of that band, a strong SAT is the fastest offset. Grades take semesters to move. A score can move in months. A result near 1460, the 75th percentile at BYU, tells the committee you can handle college work even if a rough semester dented your average. And because testing is optional, a weak score never has to undercut a strong transcript. You simply leave it out.

Set 2 targets. First, 1270: at or above the 25th percentile keeps you in range, and per section that means roughly 640 in Reading and Writing and 630 in Math. Second, 1460: at or above the 75th percentile puts you in the top quarter of admits, which is where a score starts doing real work at a 67.8% acceptance school. Between those two numbers sit 190 points, so the gap between a fine score and a strong one at BYU is real but closable. Our score plans break both targets into weekly section goals, so you know whether the next 40 points need to come from Math or from Reading and Writing.

Before you plan anything, get a baseline. Take the diagnostic, compare your result to 1270 and 1460, and pick your target this week. If you land under 1270, aim at the 25th percentile first and treat 1460 as the stretch goal. If you land inside the range, aim straight at 1460, since that is the number that moves a decision. Then work backward from your test date.