What SAT or ACT score do I need for the Presidential Scholarship?

BC publishes no minimum GPA, SAT, or ACT requirement for the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program. Candidates are typically in the top 1-2% of the national applicant pool. The enrolled class middle 50% is SAT 1460-1520, ACT 33-35, so Presidential Scholars would likely be at or above the 75th percentile. Selection is holistic: academics, leadership, and service commitment all matter.

Boston College· Renewal Rules

Keeping Boston College’s Merit Aid for Four Years

What the financial-aid office actually requires after freshman year — minimum GPA, credit-hour pace, and the cliffs that quietly downgrade families mid-degree.

Verified May 20269 days ago· PT

At a glance

Renewable tiers: 1 of 1
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 1
Renewal risk profile: high

Renewal risk profile

Boston College's top merit tiers carry renewal floors at or above 3.5 cumulative GPA — above the median freshman college GPA at most US flagships. A single rough semester can knock a four-year award out without a published reinstatement path. Plan year-one course load with renewal in mind, not just first-year survival.

Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program: 3.6 GPA

Renewal terms by tier

Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program
Full tuition ($72,180/year for 2025-2026), regardless of financial need. If the merit award does not cover full financial need, scholars receive additional grant aid to meet full demonstrated need.
To keep it: Renewable for four years. Requires 3.6 cumulative GPA and remaining a model citizen of the BC community.
Source: https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/academics/sites/gabelli-presidential-scholars-program.html

Renewal questions families ask

What SAT or ACT score do I need for the Presidential Scholarship?: BC publishes no minimum GPA, SAT, or ACT requirement for the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program. Candidates are typically in the top 1-2% of the national applicant pool. The enrolled class middle 50% is SAT 1460-1520, ACT 33-35, so Presidential Scholars would likely be at or above the 75th percentile. Selection is holistic: academics, leadership, and service commitment all matter.

Rules that bite at Boston College

The renewal trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook — derived from Boston College's own tier rules, not generic advice.

renewalGabelli Presidential Scholars Program: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewable for four years. Requires 3.6 cumulative GPA and remaining a model citizen of the BC community. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

How Boston College compares across our verified dataset

8 of 78 verified schools publish a top renewal tier requiring 3.5+ GPA or major-GPA gating.
Boston College is one of them. Calibrate year-one academic load against the renewal floor, not just freshman survival.
70 of 78 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Boston College is one of them. The cohort minority (8 schools) only awards one-year scholarships — meaning the four-year value families assume on a brochure quote isn't guaranteed at every school.

Sources used on this page

Every renewal claim is checked against Boston College’s own published materials.

policyBoston College stacking policy
cdsBoston College Common Data Set
coaBoston College cost-of-attendance worksheet
tierGabelli Presidential Scholars Program
scholarshipAllston/Brighton Scholarship
scholarshipQuestBridge National College Match