As of October 2026. Every number below is sourced; the list is at the end.
As of October 2026, Northeastern does not require a score. It is test-optional. Among the first-years who enrolled and did send one, the middle half scored 1460 to 1550 on the SAT and 33 to 35 on the ACT (IPEDS, 2023). If you want a score to help the application, that is the band to aim at.
What Northeastern's own page says
Northeastern states it directly: "Northeastern University is test-optional and does not require applicants to submit standardized testing to be considered for admission." The same page adds that a student who applies without testing "will not be penalized or disadvantaged."
A student who does submit may send the SAT, the ACT, or both. Northeastern super-scores and reads the better of the two.
So no score is required. The call is yours, and you make it one college at a time.
Read the band correctly
Be careful with 1460 to 1550. That band describes enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT. It is not a cutoff, and it is not the profile of everyone admitted. Only 27% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT, and 8% submitted an ACT (IPEDS, 2023). Most of the class sent no score at all.
Then there is the admit rate. Northeastern admitted 5.6% of 96,631 applicants (IPEDS, 2023). Read that twice. That is about 1 in 18 applicants. A year runs about $30,915 with aid and $84,641 at full price.
At a rate like that, no single line in the file decides anything. A score is one of the few lines a family can still move.
How to decide whether to send
Have your student sit one full-length practice SAT and one full-length practice ACT. Then hold the result next to Northeastern's band.
| Where the score lands | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1460 SAT or higher, or 33 ACT or higher | Send it |
| Below that | Prepare, sit the real test, then judge the new score |
| Still below after a real attempt | Hold it. Grades, course rigor and essays carry the file |
Make the call college by college. Northeastern reads a score when it gets one, so the same number can be right to send here and wrong to send somewhere else.
What the prep looks like
Plan 6 to 12 weeks before the first official test date, and prepare for the whole SAT or ACT every sitting, never one section.
Here is what our own students average, from our published results. Students who start at 1350 or below gain 190 SAT points (1210 to 1400). Students above 1350 gain 120 (1400 to 1520). Among the students who start at 1350 or below, 63% gain 200 points or more. On the ACT, students starting 27 or below gain 5.7 points (22 to 28). Published research puts a typical retest-with-prep gain near 30 SAT points (Briggs, 2009).
An average is not a promise, and your student may land above it or below it. But moving a 1400 into Northeastern's band in one season is ordinary work.
Northeastern's bands, policy and cost all sit on its Reach page.
The move
This month, have your student sit one full-length practice SAT and one full-length practice ACT before choosing an exam. The better fit is usually obvious once both are on paper. Both mocks are free: prepgurus.com/take-the-next-step. Then block 6 to 12 weeks on the calendar and work the whole test. Or call 949.229.5359 and we will map the testing year with you.
Questions parents ask
Does Northeastern require the SAT or ACT?
No. Northeastern's own page says Northeastern University is test-optional and does not require applicants to submit standardized testing to be considered for admission, and that a student who applies without testing will not be penalized or disadvantaged.
What SAT score is high enough for Northeastern?
Among the first-years who enrolled and did send one, the middle half scored 1460 to 1550 on the SAT and 33 to 35 on the ACT (IPEDS, 2023). Only 27% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT, so most of the class sent no score at all.
How hard is it to get into Northeastern?
Northeastern admitted 5.6% of 96,631 applicants (IPEDS, 2023). That is about 1 in 18 applicants.
Written by Nick Standlea, founder of Test Prep Gurus. Updated October 2026.