Academic Index Calculator

One clear piece of your academic story.

What the Academic Index was built for.  It was created in the 1950s to regulate athletic recruitment in the Ivy League. Recruited athletes needed to fall within a set range of the rest of the student body, so the AI is calculated for every enrolled student as the benchmark.

Today, the Academic Index is primarily relevant to recruited athletes and is no longer a central part of the admissions review for other applicants. Think of your result as one reference point in your academic profile, not a prediction of admission.

Instant. Your score appears as you type.

Trusted. The original Academic Index calculator.

Calculate Your Academic Index

About the calculator

How does your academic profile measure up?

Top Tier Admissions was the first to publish this formula and the first to bring the calculator online, more than two decades ago. The formula adds your highest SAT Reading & Writing and Math scores (or the ACT equivalent) to your converted GPA.

Selective colleges evaluate academic strength in context — course rigor, grades, testing, school environment, and academic trajectory — alongside the many nonacademic elements of an application.


Your Next Step

Your Academic Index is one data point. What comes next depends on where you are.

For families looking for additional support, we offer several ways to work closely with our team.


A is for Admission by Michele A. Hernández

Why Trust This Calculator

From the team that put the Academic Index formula on the map.

Top Tier Admissions co-founder Dr. Michele Hernández first brought the Academic Index formula to a broad public audience in her book A is for Admission, drawing on her experience inside the Dartmouth College admissions office. Top Tier Admissions later brought the Academic Index calculator online, helping make this once-obscure admissions benchmark accessible to students and families. Since then, our team has guided thousands of students through admissions to the most selective colleges in the country.