Ole Miss SAT Scores, GPA, and ACT (2026)

About 97 of every 100 applicants to the University of Mississippi get in. The admission rate sits at 96.6% in the most recent federal data, covering the 2024 to 2025 cycle. In practice that means if 10,000 students apply, roughly 9,660 receive an offer. So Ole Miss SAT scores work less as a gate and more as a placement signal, though the numbers still matter for scholarships, honors consideration, and course standing.

Admitted students land between 1000 and 1200 on the SAT for the middle 50, and the reported average is 1184. Read those two facts together. When the average sits only 16 points below the 75th percentile, plenty of enrolled students cluster near the top of the band, and the students who choose to send scores tend to send good ones.

Ole Miss is a public university in University, MS, with 21,473 students, so the class is large and the score range is wide. The section splits run 510 to 610 in Reading and Writing and 490 to 590 in Math, and the ACT middle 50 runs 21 to 29. The school reports a test optional policy, so a score in this range helps you but a missing one does not shut the door.

Below 1000 puts you under the 25th percentile, meaning 3 out of 4 admitted students scored higher than you. At a school admitting 96.6% of applicants that rarely blocks admission, but it can cost you merit money and placement. Inside the 1000 to 1200 band, you look like a typical admit. Above 1200, you beat the 75th percentile and stand in the top quarter of the class.

Note the section splits. Reading and Writing runs 510 to 610 while Math runs 490 to 590, so the verbal side sets the higher bar by 20 points at both ends. If your Math score matches your Reading and Writing score point for point, you are actually ahead of the typical Ole Miss admit in Math.

The test optional policy changes the strategy on when to send. Because you decide whether your score is seen, anything at 1100 or above sits in the upper half of the admitted range and is worth submitting. Below 1000, you can hold the score back, apply without it, and spend that effort raising it for scholarship deadlines instead.

Admitted students at Ole Miss typically show up with an unweighted GPA somewhere around 3.0 to 3.5. That band is forgiving compared to selective schools, and it fits a campus that admits nearly everyone who applies. Still, a transcript is not just a number. Grades earned in honors, AP, or dual enrollment classes carry as much weight as the GPA itself, because they show you took the harder path when an easier one was available.

Context matters here too. With more than 21,000 students on campus, Ole Miss reads a huge volume of applications, and a clear upward trend in your grades reads faster than a paragraph of explanation. A junior year that beats your sophomore year tells the story on its own.

If your GPA sits near the bottom of that band, the fastest fix is not retaking old classes. It is a strong SAT. A score at 1200 or above outruns the middle 50 here and gives an admissions reader, and a scholarship committee, a fresh number that points up instead of back.

Set two targets. Hitting 1000 or better keeps you inside the range for Ole Miss, since 1000 is the 25th percentile of admitted students. Hitting 1200 or better clears the 75th percentile and puts you in the top quarter, which matters far more for scholarships than for the admission decision at a school with a 96.6% acceptance rate. Since the average sits at 1184, aim for the higher target if merit aid is the goal.

Break it into sections. 610 in Reading and Writing and 590 in Math clears the 75th percentile on both. Starting from the middle of the band, that usually means finding 50 to 100 points per section, a realistic gain over a few months of steady practice rather than a cram. Our score plans map out how many points a typical student gains per week of practice at each starting score. First step: take the diagnostic this week so you know your real baseline, then build backward from your target date.