Sam Houston State University supplemental essays
No. Sam Houston State University asks for no supplemental essays in 2026-27. ApplyTexas, Common App. No personal statement either.
That is no essay writing at all in the application. The application closes August 1, 2027. This page lists Sam Houston State University's application deadlines and what the application does ask you to write.
Deadlines
| Round | Date |
|---|---|
| Application deadline | August 1, 2027 |
Checked against www.shsu.edu/admissions/apply/freshmen-steps-checklist. Confirm on the college’s own page before you submit.
No essays at all: ApplyTexas takes no personal statement either. Exception: the Honors College, and a low-GPA holistic review.
Sam Houston State University reads no essays at all: ApplyTexas takes no personal statement here, and there are no supplemental questions. Admission rides on your transcript, course rigor, and the activities you list. Your writing effort belongs to the other schools on your list.
Sam Houston never states this policy outright. What its freshman page publishes is an Application Checklist with exactly three items, the application itself through ApplyTexas or the Common App, an official high school transcript, and optional SAT or ACT scores, and no essay appears in it or anywhere else on the page. The nearest thing to a statement is an answer in its own FAQ, under "Can I still apply if I have a low GPA?": "Yes, you can still apply! We'll review your application holistically and may request a personal statement." A school that MAY request writing from some applicants is a school that requires none from the rest, which is the answer above, and Sam Houston's own profile on the Common App agrees: "No personal essay required - First Year". Both are named here rather than dressed up as a sentence Sam Houston wrote.
Two routes are the exception. The Elliott T. Bowers Honors College asks incoming freshmen for its own application, one recommendation form from a current teacher or professor, a resume, an unofficial transcript and "A short (500-750 word) essay on how you live out one Honors Pillar (research, leadership, community service, or global scholarship)". That is Sam Houston's own prompt, not the ApplyTexas personal statement, and its Fall dates are March 1 for scholarship priority and July 1 as the final deadline. Eligibility is a 1270 SAT or a 27 ACT, or the top 10% of your class, or a 3.5 unweighted GPA. The second route is not a program at all: an applicant with a low GPA may be asked for writing after applying, because Sam Houston says "We'll review your application holistically and may request a personal statement." Neither is part of the ordinary checklist, so most applicants still write nothing.
There is one round here: everything is due August 1, 2027. No early-application strategy to weigh: every file is read on the same calendar.
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Getting into Sam Houston State University
Sam Houston State University admits 90.3% of applicants. The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 930-1120 on the SAT and 17-24 on the ACT.
About 9 in 10 applicants are admitted, at a college of 17,743 undergraduates.
| Enrolled students | 25th | Median | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT total | 930 | 1040 | 1120 |
| SAT reading and writing | 480 | 530 | 570 |
| SAT math | 450 | 510 | 550 |
| ACT composite | 17 | 20 | 24 |
What SAT score do you need for Sam Houston State University?
A 1120 puts you in the top quarter of the students who enrolled, a 1040 at their midpoint, and a 930 at the bottom quarter, meaning one in four enrolled students scored below it. The same three points on the ACT are 17, 20 and 24. A quarter of an enrolled class scoring under the 25th percentile is not a rounding error, so a score below the range is a reason to strengthen the rest of the application rather than a reason not to apply.
US Department of Education, College Scorecard (2026-09-17). Percentiles describe students who enrolled, not everyone admitted. SAT totals are the reading and math bands added together, which is how every source in this market reports them and is an approximation of about 10 to 20 points, because the two sections are correlated.
- What SAT score do you need for Sam Houston State University?
- Sam Houston State University sets no minimum. Among students who enrolled, the middle 50% scored 930-1120 on the SAT: a 930 sits at the 25th percentile, 1040 at the median and 1120 at the 75th. A score at or above 1120 is a clear strength in the application; below 930 it is the part of the file the rest has to make up for. These are the figures Sam Houston State University reports to the US Department of Education, released in the College Scorecard of 2026-09-17.
- What ACT score do you need for Sam Houston State University?
- The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 17-24 on the ACT, with a composite of 20 at the median. There is no cutoff: a quarter of the enrolled class scored below 17. Reported by Sam Houston State University to the US Department of Education, College Scorecard release of 2026-09-17.
- What GPA do you need for Sam Houston State University?
- The honest answer is that the federal data behind this page does not contain one. Colleges report their admit rate and their enrolled students' test scores to the Department of Education; they do not report a GPA distribution, so any site quoting an exact average GPA for Sam Houston State University is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that Sam Houston State University admits 90.3% of applicants, and the more selective a college is, the closer to the top of the class its admitted students sit and the more the strength of your course load counts alongside the number itself.
- How hard is it to get into Sam Houston State University?
- Sam Houston State University admits 90.3% of the people who apply, which is about 9 in 10 applicants. Numbers inside the reported range put you in a real position here, and the application itself decides the rest.
What Sam Houston State University costs after grant aid, by family income, from the same federal data.
Sort your whole college list into reaches, targets and likelies, or find colleges that fit your GPA and test scores. Both are free and neither needs an account.
Sam Houston State University essay questions, answered
- Does Sam Houston State University have supplemental essays?
- No. Sam Houston State University asks for no supplemental essays in 2026-27. There is no personal statement either: ApplyTexas takes none here, so the application carries no essay writing at all. Writing does exist outside the ordinary application, on a separate application of its own: the Honors College, and a low-GPA holistic review.
- How many essays do you write for Sam Houston State University in 2026-27?
- None. Sam Houston State University asks for no supplemental essays and no personal statement in 2026-27.
Schools with similar admit rates
Sam Houston State University admits 90.3% of applicants. The colleges either side of it in our set by admit rate, most selective first, each with its own prompts and deadlines: Arizona State University (89.9%), University of St. Thomas (Houston, TX) (89.9%), Appalachian State University (90.1%), Cal State Fullerton (CSUF) (90.5%), Michigan Technological University (92.4%), VCU (Virginia Commonwealth) (92.6%).