The University of Washington is a highly competitive institution, known for its rigorous academic programs and high standards for admission. In order to be considered for admission, prospective students must meet specific GPA requirements. With a GPA of 3.83, applicants are expected to be among the top students in their class, demonstrating a strong academic record with mostly A grades. Additionally, having taken advanced placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) classes can further demonstrate a student’s ability to excel in a college-level academic environment.

In addition to meeting the GPA requirement, applicants to the University of Washington must also submit standardized test scores, letters of recommendation, and a personal statement. While there is no specific minimum requirement for SAT or ACT scores, competitive applicants typically score in the 75th percentile or higher. Strong letters of recommendation from teachers or mentors who can speak to the student’s academic abilities and character are also important. The personal statement provides an opportunity for students to showcase their unique qualities, experiences, and goals that make them a good fit for the University of Washington.

The admission process at the University of Washington is holistic, taking into account a variety of factors beyond GPA and test scores. Admissions officers review each application carefully, considering the student’s academic achievements, extracurricular activities, personal statement, and letters of recommendation. It is important for prospective students to present a well-rounded application that highlights their strengths and accomplishments in order to stand out in the competitive applicant pool. Ultimately, meeting the GPA requirements is just one piece of the puzzle in gaining admission to the University of Washington.

University of Washington GPA Requirements
Details: GPA of 3.83 required Need to be near the top of your class Transcript should show mostly A’s Preferably taken AP or IB classes
Quality of Education: The stringent GPA requirements at the University of Washington ensure that students admitted are academically strong and capable of handling college-level work. By seeking students with high GPAs and rigorous coursework backgrounds, the university maintains a high standard of academic excellence.
Admission Data: Criteria Requirement GPA 3.83 Class Rank Near the top Transcript Mostly A’s AP/IB Classes Preferably taken

Freshmen by the numbers

Applicants

	All applicants	WA residents	U.S. nonresidents	International
Applied	43,778	11,908	23,002	8,868
Admitted	24,386	7,461	12,351	4,574
Anticipated enrollment	7,000	4,450	1,450	1,100

Admitted class profile, middle 50%

The middle 50% is used to identify where the bulk of the scores lie. If you look at the all admits high school GPA of 3.72 to 3.95 it means that 25% of all admitted freshmen had a GPA below 3.72 and that 25% had a GPA above 3.95.

	All admits	WA residents	Nonresidents
High school GPA	3.72–3.95	3.86-3.92	3.75-3.92
ACT	27–33	27-33	30-34
SAT (ERW+M)	1240–1440	1220-1440	1370-1500
SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing	600–700	600–710	650-730
SAT Math	620–770	610-750	700-790

Demographics, enrolled freshmen

African American 2.6%
American Indian/Alaska Native 0.3%
Asian American 27.3%
Caucasian 34.4%
Hispanic/Latino 9.3%
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.5%
International 16.0%
Two or more races 7.8%
Other/Not indicated 1.7%

Direct to College, Engineering admits

Admitted class profile, range

We use the range (rather than the middle 50%) to illustrate which applicants were admitted directly.

	Range
High school GPA (4.0 scale)	3.88-4.00
SAT (ERW + M)	1400-1530
ACT	32-35

Direct to Major, Computer Science admits

Admitted class profile, range

We use the range (rather than the middle 50%) to illustrate which applicants were admitted directly in this first cohort.

	Range
High school GPA (4.0 scale)	3.93-4.00
SAT (ERW + M)	1420-1560
ACT	34-36

3-year average admit rates by residency

	Admit rate
Washington residents	60%
U.S. nonresidents	51%
International	44%

Middle 50% Admitted GPA, autumn 2021

High school GPA 3.73-3.96 (4.0 scale), 93-99 (100 scale)

Direct to College, Engineering admit rates, autumn 2021

For more information about direct to college, visit the College of Engineering FAQ page.

Residency type	Admit rate
Washington resident	53%
U.S. nonresident	33%
International	41%
Overall	40%

Direct to Major, Computer science/computer engineering admit rates, autumn 2021

For more information about direct admission to computer science or computer engineering, visit the Allen admission page.

Residency type	Admit rate
Washington resident	27%
U.S. nonresident	3%
International	4%
Overall	9%

University of Washington Requirements for Admission

What are University of Washington’s admission requirements? While there are a lot of pieces that go into a college application, you should focus on only a few critical things:

• GPA requirements
• Testing requirements, including SAT and ACT requirements
• Application requirements

In this guide we’ll cover what you need to get into University of Washington and build a strong application.

School location: Seattle, WA

This school is also known as: U Dub, UW

Admissions Rate: 48.7%

If you want to get in, the first thing to look at is the acceptance rate. This tells you how competitive the school is and how serious their requirements are.

The acceptance rate at University of Washington is 48.7%. For every 100 applicants, 49 are admitted.

This means the school is moderately selective. The school expects you to meet their requirements for GPA and SAT/ACT scores, but they’re more flexible than other schools. If you exceed their requirements, you have an excellent chance of getting in. But if you don’t, you might be one of the unlucky minority that gets a rejection letter.

Want to build the best possible college application?

We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world’s best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We’ve overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League.

We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools.

Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in.

University of Washington GPA Requirements

Many schools specify a minimum GPA requirement, but this is often just the bare minimum to submit an application without immediately getting rejected.

The GPA requirement that really matters is the GPA you need for a real chance of getting in. For this, we look at the school’s average GPA for its current students.

Average GPA: 3.8

The average GPA at University of Washington is 3.8.

(Most schools use a weighted GPA out of 4.0, though some report an unweighted GPA.

With a GPA of 3.8, University of Washington requires you to be near the top of your class, and well above average. Your transcript should show mostly A’s. Ideally, you will also have taken several AP or IB classes to show that you can handle academics at a college level.

If you’re currently a junior or senior, your GPA is hard to change in time for college applications. If your GPA is at or below the school average of 3.8, you’ll need a higher SAT or ACT score to compensate. This will help you compete effectively against other applicants who have higher GPAs than you.

SAT and ACT Requirements

Each school has different requirements for standardized testing. Most schools require the SAT or ACT, and many also require SAT subject tests.

You must take either the SAT or ACT to submit an application to University of Washington. More importantly, you need to do well to have a strong application.

University of Washington SAT Requirements

Many schools say they have no SAT score cutoff, but the truth is that there is a hidden SAT requirement. This is based on the school’s average score.

Average SAT: 1340

The average SAT score composite at University of Washington is a 1340 on the 1600 SAT scale.

This score makes University of Washington Moderately Competitive for SAT test scores.

University of Washington SAT Score Analysis (New 1600 SAT)

The 25th percentile New SAT score is 1220, and the 75th percentile New SAT score is 1460. In other words, a 1220 on the New SAT places you below average, while a 1460 will move you up to above average.

Here’s the breakdown of new SAT scores by section:

Section	Average	25th Percentile	75th Percentile
Math	690	620	760
Reading + Writing	650	600	700
Composite	1340	1220	1460

SAT Score Choice Policy

The Score Choice policy at your school is an important part of your testing strategy.

University of Washington has the Score Choice policy of “All Scores.”

This means that University of Washington requires you to send all SAT scores you’ve ever taken to their office.

This sounds daunting, but most schools don’t actually consider all your scores equally. For example, if you scored an 1300 on one test and a 1500 on another, they won’t actually average the two tests.

More commonly, the school will take your highest score on a single test date. Even better, some schools form a Superscore – that is, they take your highest section score across all your test dates and combine them.

Some students are still worried about submitting too many test scores. They’re afraid that University of Washington will look down on too many attempts to raise your score. But how many is too many?

From our research and talking to admissions officers, we’ve learned that 4-6 tests is a safe number to submit. The college understands that you want to have the best chance of admission, and retaking the test is a good way to do this. Within a reasonable number of tests, they honestly don’t care how many times you’ve taken it. They’ll just focus on your score.

If you take it more than 6 times, colleges start wondering why you’re not improving with each test. They’ll question your study skills and ability to improve.

But below 6 tests, we strongly encourage retaking the test to maximize your chances. If your SAT score is currently below a 1340, we strongly recommend that you consider prepping for the SAT and retaking it. You don’t have much to lose, and you can potentially raise your score and significantly boost your chances of getting in.

Exclusive: Want to learn how to improve your SAT score by 160 points?

Download our free guide on the top 5 strategies you must be using to improve your score. This guide was written by Harvard graduates and SAT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you’ll study smarter and make huge score improvements.

University of Washington ACT Requirements

Just like for the SAT, University of Washington likely doesn’t have a hard ACT cutoff, but if you score too low, your application will get tossed in the trash.

Average ACT: 30

The average ACT score at University of Washington is 30. This score makes University of Washington Strongly Competitive for ACT scores.

The 25th percentile ACT score is 27, and the 75th percentile ACT score is 32.

Even though University of Washington likely says they have no minimum ACT requirement, if you apply with a 27 or below, you’ll have a very hard time getting in, unless you have something else very impressive in your application. There are so many applicants scoring 30 and above that a 27 will look academically weak.

ACT Score Sending Policy

If you’re taking the ACT as opposed to the SAT, you have a huge advantage in how you send scores, and this dramatically affects your testing strategy.

Here it is: when you send ACT scores to colleges, you have absolute control over which tests you send. You could take 10 tests, and only send your highest one. This is unlike the SAT, where many schools require you to send all your tests ever taken.

This means that you have more chances than you think to improve your ACT score. To try to aim for the school’s ACT requirement of 30 and above, you should try to take the ACT as many times as you can. When you have the final score that you’re happy with, you can then send only that score to all your schools.

ACT Superscore Policy

By and large, most colleges do not superscore the ACT. (Superscore means that the school takes your best section scores from all the test dates you submit, and then combines them into the best possible composite score). Thus, most schools will just take your highest ACT score from a single sitting.

We weren’t able to find the school’s exact ACT policy, which most likely means that it does not Superscore. Regardless, you can choose your single best ACT score to send in to University of Washington, so you should prep until you reach our recommended target ACT score of 30.

Studying for the ACT instead? Want to learn how to improve your ACT score by 4 points?

Download our free guide on the top 5 strategies you must be using to improve your score. This guide was written by Harvard graduates and ACT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you’ll study smarter and make huge score improvements.

SAT/ACT Writing Section Requirements

Both the SAT and ACT have an optional essay section.

University of Washington requires you to take the SAT Essay/ACT Writing section. They’ll use this as another factor in their admissions consideration.

SAT Subject Test Requirements

Schools vary in their SAT subject test requirements. Typically, selective schools tend to require them, while most schools in the country do not.

We did not find information that University of Washington requires SAT subject tests, and so most likely it does not. At least 6 months before applying, you should still doublecheck just to make sure, so you have enough time to take the test.

Final Admissions Verdict

Because this school is moderately selective, strong academic performance will almost guarantee you admission. Scoring a 1460 SAT or a 32 ACT or above will nearly guarantee you admission. Because the school admits 48.7% of all applicants, being far above average raises the admission rate for you to nearly 100%.

If you can achieve a high SAT/ACT score, the rest of your application essentially doesn’t matter. You still need to meet the rest of the application requirements, and your GPA shouldn’t be too far off from the school average of 3.8. But you won’t need dazzling extracurriculars and breathtaking letters of recommendation to get in. You can get in based on the merits of your score alone.

But if your score is a 1220 SAT or a 27 ACT and below, you have a good chance of being one of the unlucky few to be rejected.

Want to build the best possible college application?

We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world’s best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We’ve overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League.

We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools.

Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in.

Admissions Calculator

What are your chances of admission at University of Washington?Chances of admission with these scores:48.7%

Here’s our custom admissions calculator. Plug in your numbers to see what your chances of getting in are.

Pick your test: New SAT ACTSAT ScoreYour GPA

---

Note: Your admission decision relies not only on your GPA and SAT/ACT scores, but also on your coursework difficulty, extracurriculars, letters of recommendation, and personal statements. This tool provides only a simplistic estimate of your chances of admission. Instead of treating this tool as a crystal ball, we recommend you consider the big picture of what your chance means:

• 80-100%: Safety school: Strong chance of getting in
• 50-80%: More likely than not getting in
• 20-50%: Lower but still good chance of getting in
• 5-20%: Reach school: Unlikely to get in, but still have a shot
• 0-5%: Hard reach school: Very difficult to get in

We recommend you apply to schools across a range of chances. Applying to some safety schools will guarantee you have a college to go to, while applying to some reach schools will give you a shot at getting into the school at the top of your range.

How would your chances improve with a better score?

Take your current SAT score and add 160 points (or take your ACT score and add 4 points) to the calculator above. See how much your chances improve?

At PrepScholar, we’ve created the leading online SAT/ACT prep program. We guarantee an improvement of 160 SAT points or 4 ACT points on your score, or your money back.

Here’s a summary of why we’re so much more effective than other prep programs:

• PrepScholar customizes your prep to your strengths and weaknesses. You don’t waste time working on areas you already know, so you get more results in less time.
• We guide you through your program step-by-step so that you’re never confused about what you should be studying. Focus all your time learning, not worrying about what to learn.
• Our team is made of national SAT/ACT experts. PrepScholar’s founders are Harvard graduates and SAT perfect scorers. You’ll be studying using the strategies that actually worked for them.
• We’ve gotten tremendous results with thousands of students across the country. Read about our score results and reviews from our happy customers.

There’s a lot more to PrepScholar that makes it the best SAT/ACT prep program. Click to learn more about our program, or sign up for our 5-day free trial to check out PrepScholar for yourself:

Application Requirements

Every school requires an application with the bare essentials – high school transcript and GPA, application form, and other core information. Many schools, as explained above, also require SAT and ACT scores, as well as letters of recommendation, application essays, and interviews. We’ll cover the exact requirements of University of Washington here.

Application Requirements Overview

• Common ApplicationNot accepted
• Universal ApplicationNot accepted
• Electronic ApplicationAvailable
• Essay or Personal StatementRequired for all freshmen
• Letters of Recommendation
• InterviewNot required
• Application Fee$60
• Fee Waiver Available?Available
• Other Notes

Testing Requirements

• SAT or ACTRequired
• SAT Essay or ACT WritingRequired
• SAT Subject Tests
• Scores Due in OfficeDecember 31

Coursework Requirements

• SubjectRequired Years
• English4
• Math3
• Science2
• Foreign Language2
• Social Studies3
• History
• Electives1

Deadlines and Early Admissions

•  
  • Offered?DeadlineNotification
• Regular Admission
  • YesDecember 1March 31
• Early Action
  • No
• Early Decision
  • No

Admissions Office Information

• Address:
  Seattle, WA 98195
• Phone:(206) 543-9686
• Email:

Our Expert’s Notes

We did more detailed research into this school’s admissions process and found the following information:

Note the final application deadline of December 1. No transcripts or letters of recommendation are required — unless you are applying to the Honors program, in which case you will submit one letter in addition to extra honors essays on the UW application. More info on applying to honors available here.

UW offers merit scholarships, some with applications and some that you are automatically considered for. Check out their scholarships page for more information.

Other Schools For You

If you’re interested in University of Washington, you’ll probably be interested in these schools as well. We’ve divided them into 3 categories depending on how hard they are to get into, relative to University of Washington.

Reach Schools: Harder to Get Into

These schools are have higher average SAT scores than University of Washington. If you improve your SAT score, you’ll be competitive for these schools.

School Name	Location	SAT Avg	ACT Avg
University of Michigan	Ann Arbor, MI	1435	33
Emory University	Atlanta, GA	1435	33
Boston University	Boston, MA	1420	32
University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley, CA	1415	31
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	Troy, NY	1409	31
University of California, Los Angeles	Los Angeles, CA	1405	31
Villanova University	Villanova, PA	1395	33

Same Level: Equally Hard to Get Into

If you’re competitive for University of Washington, these schools will offer you a similar chance of admission.

School Name	Location	SAT Avg	ACT Avg
University of Florida	Gainesville, FL	1360	30
University of California, Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara, CA	1355	29
University of Texas at Austin	Austin, TX	1355	30
University of Texas at Dallas	Richardson, TX	1350	30
Stony Brook University	Stony Brook, NY	1335	29
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo	San Luis Obispo, CA	1335	29
University of Georgia	Athens, GA	1325	30

Safety Schools: Easier to Get Into

If you’re currently competitive for University of Washington, you should have no problem getting into these schools. If University of Washington is currently out of your reach, you might already be competitive for these schools.

School Name	Location	SAT Avg	ACT Avg
Rochester Institute of Technology	Rochester, NY	1300	30
University of Massachusetts Amherst	Amherst, MA	1290	29
Drexel University	Philadelphia, PA	1290	28
Syracuse University	Syracuse, NY	1275	28
United States Military Academy	West Point, NY	1270	28
Penn State University Park	University Park, PA	1265	28
University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, OH	1265	27