When you apply to ETSU, ask your high school to mail a transcript of your high school record to the ETSU Office of Admissions. We must receive your transcript from your high school before we can admit you to ETSU. If you are a graduate of a Tennessee public high school, your transcript must also certify that you achieved satisfactory performance on The Tennessee Competency Test.

If you are a home-schooled student and a Tennessee resident, your transcript must:

• be an official copy from an affiliated organization as defined by state law
  

OR

• be accompanied by a certificate of registration with the local school system you would otherwise have attended.

If you are 21 or older when you apply as a freshman, your high school must send us your official transcript. We use the transcript to confirm that you graduated from high school and, if applicable, to determine if you completed required high school courses.

If you are under 21 years of age when you apply as a freshman, you must have taken, or be in the process of completing, the following high school courses. (Note: Different requirements may exist for GED students, early admission students, and international students).

In addition to these requirements, we recommend that high school students take additional courses in the arts, mathematics and foreign languages.

If you lack some of the required high school units, you may be considered for admission as an exception based on your college test scores and/or your grade point average.

If you graduated from high school prior to 1989, you are not subject to the required high school units.

If you are under 21 when you apply as a freshman, you must submit the score report from the American College Testing Program (ACT). If ACT scores are not available, you can submit Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores from the College Entrance Examination Board.

ETSU’s Testing Center, located in room 428, Warf-Pickel Hall, administers the American College Test (ACT) and the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT). For more information, email the Testing Center or call 423-439-7842.

If you are 21 or older at the time you apply as a freshman, you are not required to submit ACT or SAT scores. However, if you are admitted to ETSU you will take the COMPASS exam so we can identify subjects in which you may need additional course work. We may also require you to complete course work to remove any high school unit deficiencies.

If you are under 21 when you apply as a freshman, you must meet one of the following standards:

• Minimum grade point average of 2.3 on a 4.0 scale

OR

• Minimum ACT composite score of 19 (or equivalent SAT score)

If you do not meet one of these standards, you may be eligible for alternative admission. However, only a limited number of these positions are available.

If you lack some required high school units, you may be considered for admission based on your college test scores and/or your grade point average. (Admission to be determined by committee review.)

If your ACT composite score is 21 or higher (or you have an equivalent SAT score), you may be admitted if you have no more than two high school unit deficiencies.

If your ACT composite score is 19 or 20 (or you have an equivalent SAT score) and your high school GPA is 2.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale, you may be admitted if you have no more than two high school unit deficiencies.

If you are admitted as an exception, you must remove your high school unit deficiencies during your first 60 semester hours at ETSU. (Note: ETSU courses taken to remove high school deficiencies do not count as hours toward college graduation requirements.)

A limited number of alternative admission positions are available to freshman applicants under age 21 who do not meet ETSU’s admissions standards. (Admission to be determined by committee review.)

To be considered for alternative admission, you must meet the following minimum standards:

• If you are a resident of Tennessee, you must have a high school GPA of at least 2.0 on a 4.0 scale or an ACT composite score of at least 17 (or equivalent SAT).

• If you are a resident of another state, you must have a high school GPA of at least 2.3 on a 4.0 scale or an ACT composite score of at least 19 (or equivalent SAT).

Applicants 18 years of age or older who are not high school graduates may apply for admission on the basis of scores on the General Education Development Test (GED) of the American Council on Education.

If you are under 21 years of age and are applying to be admitted on the basis of GED scores, you must also submit ACT or SAT scores. We will consider your GED scores, ACT (or SAT) scores, and high school records in reviewing your application.

The following guidelines apply to GED applicants:

• If you completed the GED prior to January 1, 1997, you must present an average score of 45 or higher, with no single score below 35.

• If you completed the GED between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2001, you must present an average score of 45 or higher with no single score below 40.

• If you complete the 2002 Series GED Tests, you must earn a minimum of 410 on each of the five tests in the battery and an average (mean) score of 450 on the total battery.

• If you earned your GED diploma in 1989-1992, you are subject to the high school foreign language requirement (s).

• If you earned your GED diploma in 1993 or thereafter, you are subject to the high school foreign language and visual/performing arts requirements.