The 44 colleges we have termed the “best of the rest” have less demanding academic achievement benchmarks than the 61 highly selective colleges with acceptance rates of 25% or less, while still maintaining reasonably high academic standards based especially on the middle 50% test score ranges of their admitted students for the class of 2025.

The colleges in the “best of the rest” list were selected based on middle 50% test score ranges that start at 1200 and who have acceptance rates above 25%. We found a total of 44 colleges that fit these metrics.

GPA

27 of the 44 “best of the rest” colleges disclosed GPA data with a mix of unweighted and weighted GPA data giving us a clearer picture of classroom academic achievement of the freshman class of 2025 compared to the highly selective colleges which mostly did not disclose the GPA of the class of 2025.

Remember that while the GPA is a strong indicator of an applicant’s high school work ethic, it is not the best indicator of college readiness. High schools across the country do not have consistent curriculums or grading practices such that the GPA cannot be used as a standardized benchmark to measure academic achievement.

Despite test optionality, colleges continue to evaluate test scores, if available and rigor of classes taken as stronger indicators of college readiness than GPA.

Middle 50% Test Score Ranges

While there is overlap in middle 50% test score ranges between these 44 “best of the rest” colleges, and the highly selective colleges, the percentage of admitted students who submitted test scores is much lower relative to the 61 highly selective colleges. That said, at half of the 44 colleges, a majority of admitted students submitted test scores clearly underlining the value of a test score for purposes of admission to a good college.

Read: What a College’s Test Score Ranges Mean

Just like at the highly selective colleges, these admitted students generally favored the SAT over the ACT except at Ohio State University where 64% of admitted students took the ACT and at University of Wisconsin - Madison where 46% of admitted students also took the ACT.

The 3 colleges in the University of California system are the only ones that are no longer accepting test scores from applicants, while the remaining 41 colleges continue to accept and evaluate test scores in the admission process if they are submitted.

For applicants interested in adding one of these 44 colleges to their college list, the GPA and 50% test score ranges in the table below will help in assessing whether these colleges are “stretch”, “right fit” or “safety” schools.

See: Get Admitted with a Great College List

Table of GPA and Test Scores at “Best of the Rest” Colleges

Data obtained from Common Data Sets and college websites

Class Rank

While only a minority of admitted students submitted their class rank making this data less reliable, it is still noteworthy that at nearly all of the 44 colleges, more than 80% of those that did submit a class rank were in the top 25% of their high school class.

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