Drake University
Des Moines, IA
What are your chances of getting into Drake University?
Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, known for being career-focused, hands-on, and unusually connected to a state-capital city with strong internship and professional opportunities. It offers more than 85 majors and 150 undergraduate programs across seven colleges and schools, with especially visible strengths in law, pharmacy and health sciences, journalism and mass communication, business, education, and the liberal arts. The university emphasizes close faculty mentorship, practical experience, and community engagement, and many students take part in internships, service-learning, and research tied to the local area. Campus life is active but not overwhelming: the 150-acre campus has NCAA Division I athletics, 150-plus clubs and organizations, and a residential feel shaped by a close-knit community. Drake tends to fit students who want a supportive environment, like being known by professors, and are eager to turn classwork into professional experience.
Calculate your chances at Drake University
Enter your GPA and test scores, add other schools, and see where you stand instantly.
Your Academic Profile
Estimates based on admitted-student data. Real decisions also weigh essays, recommendations, and course rigor.
Your results
Enter your GPA to see your academic score.
Your chances map appears here once you enter a GPA and add colleges.
Strengths
- Strong pre-professional options, especially law, pharmacy, business, journalism, and education.
- Lots of hands-on learning through internships, community engagement, and practical experiences.
- Close-knit campus with a relatively small-school feel and lots of student involvement.
- Urban location in Des Moines gives students access to internships, arts, culture, and city life.
Things to weigh
- It is still a selective private university, so applicants should expect a meaningful admissions bar relative to many regional schools.
- The required residential experience can feel limiting for students who want more commuting flexibility.
- Campus life is active, but Des Moines is not a big coastal college town, so some students may find the setting less high-energy than larger metros.
- Students who want a huge research-university ecosystem or a massive course catalog may find Drake smaller and more professionally oriented.
Frequently asked questions
How hard is it to get into Drake University?+
Drake University admits about 64% of applicants, and the middle 50% of admitted students score between 1110 and 1350 on the SAT. Enter your GPA and test scores above and this calculator estimates your personal chances in seconds, and tells you whether Drake University is a safety, match, or reach for your profile.
Is this the most accurate college admissions calculator?+
Counselly's chances calculator runs on real, current admissions data, the actual admit rates and SAT/ACT ranges colleges report to the U.S. Department of Education, not averages scraped from forums. Our algorithm weighs your GPA, test scores, and extracurricular strength against each school's admitted-student profile the way an admissions reader would begin, which makes it one of the most reliable free tools for seeing where you'll get into college.
How does the calculator predict my chances of getting in?+
It compares your academic profile to each college's real admitted class. We look at where your GPA and test scores fall within a school's 25th to 75th percentile range, combine that with the school's overall admit rate, and factor in your extracurricular strength, then translate it into a clear percentage and a Safety, Match, or Reach label. Everything recalculates instantly as you add schools or adjust your stats.
What counts as a good chance of getting into a college?+
Roughly above 60% is a Safety, you're comfortably ahead of the typical admitted student. Around 30 to 60% is a Match, realistic and worth prioritizing. Below 30% is a Reach, still absolutely worth applying to if it's a dream school. The strongest college lists balance all three, and Counselly helps you build exactly that kind of list.
Which colleges can I check my admission chances for?+
Hundreds of US colleges and universities, from Ivy League schools to large public flagships to smaller private colleges. Just start typing, MIT, UCLA, NYU, Michigan, and pick from the suggestions. We're continuously expanding our data, and your free assessment goes even further, matching you to programs across the country based on your full profile.
Can a calculator really tell me where I will get accepted?+
No tool can promise an outcome, and you should be cautious of any that claims to. What Counselly does exceptionally well is show you, honestly and instantly, exactly where you stand academically at each college, so you can build a smart, balanced list instead of guessing. Your essays, recommendations, and story do the rest, and your free assessment is built to help you strengthen all of them.
Is the college chances calculator free?+
Completely free, and no signup is required to use it. When you're ready to go further, your full assessment, the complete list of colleges where you're a strong fit plus a step-by-step plan to raise your odds, is also free to unlock with an account.
