Swarthmore College
Swarthmore publishes 7.5% (Fall 2025 entering class). Early Decision applicants got in at 18%; everyone else at 6.4%.
Acceptance rate
What Swarthmore's 7.5% is made of
The published rate averages groups with very different odds. These are the splits Swarthmore reports itself.
By application round
Fall 2025 entering class
Read the full decomposition →Part of Real Acceptance Rates, our series decomposing published rates from each school's own Common Data Set.
Testing
Test-Optional for 2026-27
- Policy
Swarthmore's official application-materials-deadlines page confirms test scores are optional and non-submission is not penalized in the admissions process for 2026-27. No future required-testing change found.
- SAT middle 50%
- 1490–1560sum of section 25th–75th percentiles
- ACT middle 50%
- 33–35
- Average HS GPA
- Not published by the school
Applying
Deadlines, essays and AI policy
- Early deadlines
- Nov 15, 2026 (ED1); Jan 4, 2027 (ED2)
- Regular decision
- Jan 4, 2027Source
- Supplemental essays
- 2 required
Two required 250-word short-answer questions: one on self-identity/background and navigating differences within community, one on an intellectual fascination and how it connects across your interests.
- AI use in essays
Limited Use Allowed — applies to Application essays
“we expect to learn about you and how you think, which means you are not submitting work that has been substantially created by AI or another person. [...] Any assistance with writing comes at the beginning or end of the process — such as brainstorming ideas for essay topics or asking for feedback on readability, spelling, and mechanics.”
Full cycle calendar: Application Deadlines.
At a glance
Size and cost
- Undergraduate enrollment
- 1,613
- Tuition (out-of-state)
- $65,494
- Category
- Liberal Arts
- Admissions site
- www.swarthmore.edu
What should this school mean for your list?
A published rate is one input. Working out what it means alongside the rest of your list is the part that actually changes an application. Free 25-minute call, no commitment.
Sources
- Swarthmore test policy (2026-27)
- Swarthmore deadlines
- Swarthmore AI-use policy
- Swarthmore admissions pages
- Swarthmore admissions pages
- Acceptance rate, test-score percentiles, enrollment and tuition: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, pulled 2026-08-19.
Test policy and deadlines last verified 2026-08-17.
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