Colleges That Accept a 3.5 GPA

A 3.5 GPA is a safety at one school and a long shot at another, so these schools are split into likely, target and reach rather than one list. Every number is the school's own average admitted GPA, from U.S. Department of Education data.

Likely

Schools where the average admitted student is below 3.5 GPA. You are above their typical applicant.

Rutgers University-New Brunswick — New Brunswick, NJ · 3.30 avg GPA
Purdue University-Main Campus — West Lafayette, IN · 3.30 avg GPA
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus — University Park, PA · 3.30 avg GPA
University of Georgia — Athens, GA · 2.90 avg GPA
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities — Minneapolis, MN · 3.30 avg GPA
University of Connecticut — Storrs, CT · 3.10 avg GPA
Brigham Young University — Provo, UT · 3.30 avg GPA
Baylor University — Waco, TX · 3.10 avg GPA
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville — Knoxville, TN · 3.30 avg GPA
University of South Carolina-Columbia — Columbia, SC · 3.30 avg GPA
Auburn University — Auburn, AL · 3.10 avg GPA
University of Kentucky — Lexington, KY · 3.30 avg GPA
University of Kansas — Lawrence, KS · 3.30 avg GPA
University of Nebraska-Lincoln — Lincoln, NE · 3.30 avg GPA
University of Mississippi — University, MS · 3.30 avg GPA

Target

Schools where the average admitted student is right around 3.5 GPA. These are realistic, competitive picks.

University of Chicago — Chicago, IL · 3.50 avg GPA
University of Washington-Seattle Campus — Seattle, WA · 3.50 avg GPA
University of Maryland-College Park — College Park, MD · 3.50 avg GPA
Michigan State University — East Lansing, MI · 3.50 avg GPA
Arizona State University Campus Immersion — Tempe, AZ · 3.55 avg GPA
Iowa State University — Ames, IA · 3.50 avg GPA
University of Oregon — Eugene, OR · 3.55 avg GPA
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College — Baton Rouge, LA · 3.50 avg GPA
University of Iowa — Iowa City, IA · 3.50 avg GPA
University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus — Norman, OK · 3.50 avg GPA
University of Arkansas — Fayetteville, AR · 3.48 avg GPA
University of Utah — Salt Lake City, UT · 3.50 avg GPA
Oregon State University — Corvallis, OR · 3.52 avg GPA
Washington State University — Pullman, WA · 3.50 avg GPA
University of California-Riverside — Riverside, CA · 3.60 avg GPA

Reach

Schools where the average admitted student is above 3.5 GPA. Possible, but you would be applying from below the median.

Princeton University — Princeton, NJ · 3.90 avg GPA
University of Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, PA · 3.90 avg GPA
Vanderbilt University — Nashville, TN · 3.83 avg GPA
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor — Ann Arbor, MI · 3.88 avg GPA
Carnegie Mellon University — Pittsburgh, PA · 3.91 avg GPA
Georgetown University — Washington, DC · 3.93 avg GPA
Emory University — Atlanta, GA · 3.90 avg GPA
University of Southern California — Los Angeles, CA · 3.79 avg GPA
University of Florida — Gainesville, FL · 3.70 avg GPA
The University of Texas at Austin — Austin, TX · 3.70 avg GPA
Wake Forest University — Winston-Salem, NC · 3.87 avg GPA
New York University — New York, NY · 3.70 avg GPA
Tufts University — Medford, MA · 3.93 avg GPA
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — Champaign, IL · 3.85 avg GPA
University of Wisconsin-Madison — Madison, WI · 3.85 avg GPA

By state

Colleges That Accept a 3.5 GPA on PickACampus