Friends SAT Scores, GPA, and ACT (2026)

About 55 of every 100 applicants get into Friends University, and that 55.2% acceptance rate shapes what Friends SAT scores actually need to look like. This is a school that admits more than half its pool, so the question is less about beating impossible odds and more about landing inside the score band it publishes. The middle 50 percent of admitted students scored between 960 and 1090 on the SAT in the 2024-2025 federal data. Hit 960 and you match the bottom of the admitted range. Hit 1090 and 3 out of 4 admitted students scored at or below you.

Friends is a private nonprofit university in Wichita, Kansas, and it is small: 1,048 students total. At that scale, one applicant's file gets more attention than it would at a state flagship with 30,000 undergraduates. The reported SAT average of 1080 sits near the top of the middle 50 range, which tells you the score distribution leans high within the admitted group. Testing is optional here in the most recent federal data, so a score is a choice, not a requirement. If your number lands at 1000 or better, submitting it strengthens a file at a school where half the pool still hears no.

The middle 50 tells you where you stand before you apply. Below 960, you are in the bottom quarter of admitted students at Friends University. People do get in from there, especially since testing is optional, but the score is pulling against you rather than for you. Between 960 and 1090, you look like a typical admitted student, and with a 55.2% acceptance rate that is usually enough. Above 1090, your score beats 3 out of 4 people who got in, and it becomes a genuine asset at a 1,048 student school where files are read individually.

The section splits matter here. Reading and Writing runs 500 to 530 among admitted students, a tight 30 point band, while Math runs 460 to 560, a 100 point spread. That means the Reading and Writing bar is more uniform: nearly everyone admitted clears 500. Math tolerates more variation, so a weaker Math score hurts less at Friends than a Reading and Writing score under 500 does.

Admitted students at Friends University typically present an unweighted GPA in the 3.3 to 3.7 range. That is a B plus to A minus transcript, and at a school admitting 55.2% of applicants, staying inside that band keeps your grades from being the reason you get filtered out. A 3.5 in the middle of the band is a comfortable position. Below 3.3, the rest of the file has to do more work.

The number on the transcript is only half of what gets read. Grades earned in rigorous courses count as much as the GPA itself: a 3.4 built on honors and advanced classes reads stronger than a 3.6 built on the easiest available schedule. And if your GPA sits at the lower edge of the band, a strong SAT is the fastest offset. Grades took 4 years to build and cannot be redone. A score can move 100 points or more in a few months of focused work, and at Friends, a 1090 or better puts you above 3 out of 4 admitted students regardless of transcript.

Set 2 targets. First, 960 or above keeps you inside the admitted range at Friends University, and given the tight Reading and Writing band, aim for at least 500 on that section specifically. Second, 1090 or above puts you in the top quarter of admitted students, which matters if you want merit consideration at a private school. The reported average of 1080 sits just under that mark, so clearing 1090 genuinely separates you.

Work backward from wherever you are now. If you are at 900, the gap to 960 is 60 points, very closable in one focused prep cycle. If you are already at 1000, pushing to 1090 is the better use of your time than stopping. Our score plans map out how many points per week that pace requires and which sections to hit first. Before any of that, you need a real starting number, not a guess: take the diagnostic to get one. Do that this week, then build your plan against the 960 and 1090 lines.