North Carolina State University

NC State is selective but not among the most competitive flagships, admitting about 39.5% of applicants in the most recent cycle from a pool of roughly 49,000. Admission is more competitive for high-demand programs such as engineering and computer science, and for out-of-state applicants, than the overall rate suggests.

Enrolled first-year students at NC State report an average high school GPA of about 3.84. There is no hard cutoff, but academic GPA and the rigor of your course load are the only two factors NC State rates as very important, and among students who reported a class rank, 41% were in the top tenth and 78% in the top quarter of their graduating class.

NC State is test-optional, so you can apply without submitting SAT or ACT scores, and standardized tests are only a considered factor in the review. For students who do submit, the middle 50% of enrolled first-years scored between 1310 and 1440 on the SAT and 25 to 32 on the ACT.

Yes, a 1400 is a competitive SAT score for NC State, sitting just above the median of enrolled students, whose middle 50% scored 1310 to 1440 (25 to 32 on the ACT). About 44% of enrolled first-years scored 1400 or higher, so a 1400 lands comfortably in the upper half of the class.

Out-of-state applicants face meaningfully longer odds than North Carolina residents. In the most recent residency breakdown, NC State admitted about 48.9% of in-state applicants (10,570 of 21,636) versus 35.7% of out-of-state applicants (6,963 of 19,487) and 22.9% of international applicants (668 of 2,920). As a UNC-system public university, NC State caps non-resident enrollment — only about 12% of first-year students come from outside North Carolina — so the in-state advantage is real and significant.

Annual tuition and required fees run about $9,028 for North Carolina residents and $33,993 for out-of-state students. About 39% of first-years receive need-based scholarship or grant aid, the average aid package is near $17,364, and NC State meets roughly 75% of demonstrated need on average.

Engineering is the largest field at about 24% of bachelor's degrees, followed by business and marketing at roughly 17% and the biological and life sciences at about 10%. As a land-grant university, NC State also has strong programs in agriculture and the natural resources, which account for about 11% of degrees.

It helps, but it is not decisive on its own. NC State rates the application essay as a considered factor in its holistic review, below the rigor of your record and your GPA, which are the only two very important factors. Because admission turns heavily on grades and course rigor, a focused, well-revised essay is a chance to add context that your transcript alone can't show.

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