Manhattan SAT Scores, GPA, and ACT (2026)

Manhattan University sits in Riverdale, NY, a private nonprofit school with 2,744 undergraduates, and Manhattan SAT scores land in a middle 50 percent range of 1180 to 1358. If you are checking Manhattan SAT scores because the school is on your list, start with those two numbers and the admit rate: 78.9% of applicants get in, based on 2024-2025 federal data. That combination matters. A school that admits nearly 4 out of 5 applicants is not trying to filter you out. It is checking whether your academic record fits, and a solid SAT settles that question fast.

The small enrollment is the detail worth pausing on. At 2,744 undergraduates, Manhattan is a fraction of the size of the big New York schools, so an application file gets looked at rather than sorted by a cutoff. The average SAT here is 1270, and the ACT middle 50 runs 25 to 29. Testing is optional in the most recent federal data, which means you choose whether your score goes in the file. With a middle 50 that starts at 1180, a score anywhere in the 1200s already reads as a fit, and anything near 1358 reads as a strength.

Read the middle 50 as three zones. Below 1180, you are in the bottom quarter of admitted students. At Manhattan that is not a rejection, since 78.9% of applicants get in, but it means your score adds nothing and the rest of your file has to do the work. Under a test optional policy, a score below 1180 is usually one to hold back. Inside 1180 to 1358, you match the typical admit, and submitting makes sense. Above 1358, you are in the top quarter, and that score becomes an argument for merit consideration, not just admission.

The section splits show where the bar sits. Math runs 600 to 678 while Reading and Writing runs 580 to 680, so Math sets the higher floor by 20 points. A student with 640 in each section clears both 25th percentiles comfortably. A student with 680 Reading and 560 Math has a lopsided profile that the middle 50 exposes, and Math practice is the obvious fix.

Admitted students at Manhattan University typically present an unweighted GPA around 3.0 to 3.5. That is a wide band, and it reflects an admit rate of 78.9%: the school takes students with a range of transcripts, not just straight A records. A 3.2 with honors chemistry and precalculus on it carries real weight here. The number on the transcript matters, but the courses behind it count just as much, because a B in a rigorous class tells the committee more than an A in an easy one.

If your GPA sits near the bottom of that band, the fastest offset is a strong SAT. Grades took 4 years to build and cannot be changed now. A test score can move in a few months. A student with a 3.0 and a 1300 looks very different from a student with a 3.0 and no score, especially at a school where 1300 lands in the upper half of the admitted range. Since testing is optional, submitting a good score is a choice that works entirely in your favor.

Set two targets. Scoring at or above 1180, the 25th percentile, keeps you in range and makes your score worth submitting under the optional policy. Scoring at or above 1358 puts you in the top quarter of admitted students, which is the position you want if you are hoping for merit money at a private school. The average admit sits at 1270, so treat 1270 as the checkpoint between those two goals. Section wise, aim for at least 600 Math and 580 Reading and Writing so neither section drags the composite down.

Work backwards from your current score. Our score plans map the point gap to a week by week schedule, whether you need 40 points or 200. If you have not tested recently, take a diagnostic first so the plan starts from a real number instead of a guess. Your next step: sit for a full length practice test this week and see which side of 1180 you land on.