Southern Illinois University Edwardsville SAT Scores, GPA, and ACT (2026)

About 97 out of every 100 applicants to SIUE get in: the admission rate sits at 97.5% in the 2024-2025 data. So if you are researching Southern Illinois University Edwardsville SAT scores, the honest headline is that the school says yes to almost everyone who applies. Out of 1,000 applications, roughly 25 come back with a no. The middle 50% of admitted students scored between 950 and 1190 on the SAT, with an average of 1100. That is not a bar to clear so much as a picture of who enrolls. A 950 marks the 25th percentile, meaning 1 in 4 admitted students scored below it. A 1190 marks the 75th, so a 1200 or better would put you above 3 out of 4 admitted students.

SIUE is a public university in Edwardsville, IL, with about 8,750 students, small enough that it does not feel like a mega campus. Testing is optional in the 2024-2025 cycle, so you decide whether your score goes in the file, and that choice is the real strategic question here, not admission itself. The section splits lean toward Reading and Writing, where the middle 50% runs 490 to 600 against 460 to 590 in Math. If you take the ACT instead, its middle 50% runs 20 to 27.

Here is how to read your score against SIUE's numbers. Below 950, you are under the 25th percentile of admitted students. Given the 97.5% admission rate you can still get in, but with testing optional, a score down there is usually worth withholding, since it adds nothing the rest of your application cannot say better. Inside the 950 to 1190 range, you look like a typical SIUE admit. Submitting makes sense once you pass the 1100 average, because at that point the number pulls your file up rather than down. Above 1190, you are in the top quarter of the class, which strengthens your file and can matter for scholarship review.

Section by section, Reading and Writing sets the slightly higher bar: its middle 50% runs 490 to 600, while Math runs 460 to 590. The 75th percentiles sit at 600 and 590, so cracking 600 in either section puts you near the top of admitted students there. And if your Math score lands 20 or 30 points under your Reading and Writing score, you are actually matching the pattern of admitted students, not falling behind it.

Admitted students at SIUE typically carry an unweighted GPA somewhere in the 3.0 to 3.5 range. That is a wide band, and it reflects a school that admits 97.5% of applicants: solid B work in your core classes generally keeps you in good shape here. You do not need a transcript full of A grades to get in.

What matters more than the number itself is where the grades came from. A 3.2 built on honors and AP courses reads stronger than a 3.4 built on the lightest schedule your school offers. Admissions readers see the course list next to the grades, and so do scholarship committees, which at a school this open are often the audience that actually matters.

And if your GPA sits at the lower edge of that band, the fastest offset is a strong SAT score. Testing is optional at SIUE, which cuts both ways: a score at or above the 1100 average can only help your file, and a weak one can simply stay home. A B student who submits a 1150 looks different from a B student who submits nothing.

Set 2 targets. Scoring at or above 950, the 25th percentile, keeps you inside the admitted range, and 1190 or higher, the 75th, puts you in the top quarter of SIUE students. With a 97.5% admission rate, the real reason to push past 1190 is not admission, it is merit money and placement. Since testing is optional, treat the 1100 average as your submit line: at or above it, send the score; below it, hold it back and lean on your GPA and coursework instead.

Start by finding out where you stand: take a diagnostic to get a baseline across both sections. If it comes back near 950, the climb from the 25th to the 75th percentile is about 240 points, which is realistic over a few months of steady work. Then pick one of our score plans matched to your target, whether that is clearing 950, passing the 1100 submit line, or breaking 1190. Your next step this week: sit for a full timed practice test and score it. Everything else follows from that number.