Hanover SAT Scores, GPA, and ACT (2026)

Roughly 84 of every 100 applicants get into Hanover College, an admission rate of 83.7% in the 2024-2025 data. So before you worry about Hanover SAT scores, know the odds are on your side. The middle 50 percent of enrolled students scored between 1110 and 1280, and the average sits at 1201. That range tells you what the class looks like, not what the gate looks like: most students who apply with a reasonable academic record get an offer.

Hanover is a small place. Total enrollment is 1,031 students, which means the entire college is smaller than many public high schools in Indiana. It sits in Hanover, IN, and operates as a private nonprofit university. Testing is optional here in the most recent federal data, so you decide whether your score goes in the file. That choice matters more than it might seem. A 1201 average is well above the national mean, so a submitted score in the 1200s strengthens an application, while a score in the low 1000s is probably better left out. The ACT picture matches: the middle 50 runs from 23 to 29. This page breaks down where your numbers land and what to do about the gap if there is one.

Here is how to read your score against Hanover's numbers. Below 1110, you are under the 25th percentile, meaning at least 3 out of 4 enrolled students scored higher than you. Since testing is optional, that is usually a score to withhold, not submit. Between 1110 and 1280, you are inside the middle 50 and your score fits the class; the closer to the 1201 average, the more neutral it reads, and above it, the more it helps. Above 1280, you beat the 75th percentile and outscore at least 3 out of 4 enrolled students, which makes you a strong candidate for admission.

The section splits are worth a look. Reading and Writing runs 560 to 650 while Math runs 550 to 630, so the verbal side sets a slightly higher bar at both ends. If your Math score is 620 and your Reading and Writing is 590, you are inside range on both, but the verbal number has less headroom. Balance matters when both sections get read.

Admitted students at Hanover College typically present an unweighted GPA around 3.0 to 3.5. That is a wide band, and it reflects an admission rate of 83.7%: the college admits students across a real spread of transcripts, not just straight A records. If your GPA sits near 3.3 or higher, you are in comfortable territory. Near 3.0, you are still very much in the conversation.

What sits behind the number counts as much as the number itself. A 3.2 earned in honors and advanced courses reads stronger than a 3.4 built on the easiest available schedule, because admissions readers look at what you took, not just what you got. And if your GPA lands at the lower edge of that band, the fastest offset is a strong SAT. A transcript takes 4 years to build. A score can move in months. A submitted 1250 or 1280 tells Hanover you can do the work, whatever the transcript says.

Set 2 targets. First, 1110: at or above the 25th percentile keeps you inside Hanover's enrolled range, and combined with the 83.7% admission rate, that score makes admission very likely. Second, 1280: at or above the 75th percentile puts you in the top quarter of the class, which is the position you want if merit aid decisions are on the table. By section, aim for 560 or better in Reading and Writing and 550 or better in Math to clear both 25th percentile marks, with 650 and 630 as the stretch goals.

If you are sitting at 1150 and want 1280, that is a 130 point climb, which is a normal gain with structured practice over a few months. Our score plans map out what that timeline looks like week by week. But the plan only works if the starting point is accurate, so take a diagnostic first and get a real baseline across both sections. Do that this week, then decide whether Hanover gets your score or your test optional application.