Lee SAT Scores, GPA, and ACT (2026)

The section splits tell the real story behind Lee SAT scores: the Reading and Writing middle 50 runs 540 to 630, while Math runs 500 to 600, so verbal scores carry more weight in a typical admitted profile here. Anyone researching Lee SAT scores should start with the full composite picture: the middle 50 percent of enrolled students scored between 1040 and 1230, with an average around 1145. On the ACT side, the middle 50 sits at 20 to 27. Those numbers describe a school that admits students across a fairly wide score band rather than clustering everyone near a single cutoff.

Lee University is a private nonprofit university in Cleveland, TN, with about 2,617 students, small enough that admissions can read applications with some care. The admission rate is 70.5%, which means roughly 7 out of 10 applicants get in. That rate changes how you should read the score ranges. A 1040 does not shut the door, and a 1230 does not guarantee anything, but scores still sort applicants into stronger and weaker positions. In the most recent federal data, Lee is test optional for the 2024-2025 cycle, so submitting is a choice, and a score inside or above the range makes that choice easy.

Here is what the numbers mean in practice. Below 1040, you are under the 25th percentile, meaning at least 3 out of 4 enrolled students scored higher than you. With a 70.5% admission rate you can still get in, but since Lee is test optional, a score down there is usually better left unsubmitted. Between 1040 and 1230, you are inside the middle 50 and your score reads as normal for this campus: submit it and let the rest of your application work. Above 1230, you are in the top quarter, and submitting is an obvious yes.

The section splits matter too. Reading and Writing sets the higher bar at Lee: 540 at the 25th percentile against 500 for Math, and 630 at the 75th against 600. A student with a 610 in Reading and Writing and a 550 in Math matches the enrolled profile almost exactly. If your split runs the other way, heavy Math and light verbal, your composite may look fine while your Reading and Writing score sits below the typical admit.

Admitted students at Lee typically present an unweighted GPA somewhere around 3.3 to 3.7. That is a band, not a wall. Plenty of students land offers from schools with a 70.5% admission rate while sitting at the lower end of the band, and some arrive above it. What matters more than the exact decimal is where the grades came from. A 3.4 built on honors and AP coursework reads differently than a 3.4 built on the lightest schedule available, and admissions readers at a private university of this size have time to notice the difference.

If your GPA sits at the lower edge of that band, the fastest offset is a strong SAT. Transcripts take years to change. A test score can move in months. At Lee, a composite at or above 1230 puts you in the top quarter of enrolled students, and that kind of number can pull attention away from a transcript with a rough semester on it. Grades open the conversation. A score above the range finishes it.

Set 2 targets. First, 1040: at or above the 25th percentile keeps you inside the range, which is the minimum bar for a score worth submitting to a test optional school. Second, 1230: at or above the 75th percentile puts you in the top quarter of enrolled students, which strengthens a merit case and offsets a GPA near the bottom of the 3.3 to 3.7 band. By section, that means pushing Reading and Writing toward 630 and Math toward 600.

If you are currently under 1040, do not guess at what is broken. Take a diagnostic to find out whether the points are hiding in Reading and Writing, where Lee's bar is higher, or in Math. Then pick from the score plans that match your gap: a 100 point climb and a 250 point climb are different projects with different timelines. Your concrete next step: sit for a full timed practice test this week, score it, and measure the distance between your composite and 1230.