Huston Tillotson SAT Scores, GPA, and ACT (2026)

Roughly 39 out of every 100 applicants get into Huston Tillotson University, an acceptance rate of 39.1% in the 2024-2025 federal data, so before you look at Huston Tillotson SAT scores, know that most applicants are turned away. The middle 50 percent of enrolled students scored between 800 and 1160 on the SAT, with an average of 1014. That is one of the wider score bands you will see: a 360 point spread from the 25th to the 75th percentile, which tells you the school admits students across a broad range of academic profiles rather than filtering hard on a single number.

Huston Tillotson is a private nonprofit university in Austin, Texas, and it is small: about 1,005 students total. At that scale, one strong applicant is not lost in a pile of 40,000 files. The section splits are worth a look too. The middle 50 percent runs 430 to 590 in Reading and Writing but only 370 to 570 in Math, so the verbal side sets a slightly higher bar. On the ACT, the middle 50 percent runs 16 to 28. Testing is optional here in the most recent federal data, but a score inside or above these ranges still gives the admissions office a concrete reason to say yes.

Read your own score against the 800 to 1160 band in 3 zones. Below 800 puts you under 3 out of 4 enrolled students. With testing optional, that is usually a score to withhold, or a signal to keep prepping before you send anything. Inside the band, say a 950 or a 1050, you look like a typical admit, and at a 39.1% acceptance rate typical is a workable position, especially with a GPA in the 3.6 to 3.9 range backing it up. Above 1160 puts you in the top quarter of the class, a clear academic edge at a school of about 1,005 students.

Check your section balance too. The Reading and Writing middle 50 percent (430 to 590) sits 60 points higher at the bottom and 20 points higher at the top than Math (370 to 570). A 500 in Math clears the typical bar comfortably; the same 500 in Reading and Writing is merely ordinary. If your composite is borderline, the verbal section is where Huston Tillotson expects slightly more.

Admitted students at Huston Tillotson typically show up with an unweighted GPA somewhere around 3.6 to 3.9. That is the realistic band for a school admitting 39.1% of applicants. If your transcript sits inside it, your grades are doing their job and your attention should shift to the rest of the file.

The number alone is not the whole story. A 3.6 earned in honors and AP coursework reads stronger than a 3.8 built on the lightest schedule your school offers, because rigor counts as much as the figure at the top of the transcript. And if your GPA sits at the lower edge of that band or just below it, the fastest offset available to you is a strong SAT. Grades took 4 years to build and cannot be revised now. A score can move in a few months of focused work, and at a school where the average is 1014, landing well above that average makes a below band GPA much easier for a reader to look past.

Set 2 concrete targets. First, 800: at or above the 25th percentile keeps you inside the range Huston Tillotson actually enrolls, and matching the 1014 average makes you a straightforward admit on scores. Second, 1160: at or above the 75th percentile puts you in the top quarter of the class, which is the level where a score can pull weight against a thinner GPA or help your case for merit aid. Because testing is optional in the most recent federal data, only submit a score that lands inside or above the band; below 800, hold it back and keep working.

Aiming for a specific number works better than vague studying, and mapping the section gap matters here since the verbal bar sits higher. Our score plans break targets like 1014 or 1160 into weekly work by section. Before any of that, you need your true starting point, and a 20 question diagnostic gives you one in about 25 minutes. Take the diagnostic today, then build the plan around the gap it shows you.