Admissions Factors

What Swarthmore Looks For

Swarthmore rates 6 factors as very important: rigor of high school courses, academic GPA, class rank, application essay, recommendations and character and personal qualities.

How Swarthmore rates each factor

Each college sorts 18 factors into four levels on its Common Data Set.

Very important

Considered

Not considered

Level of applicant's interest

The numbers behind the class

Overall admit rate

7.5%

977 of 12,995 applicants

Early decision admit rate

17.8%

Early decision admits equal 54% of the class

Admitted from the waitlist

Not reported

86.7% of those who reported a class rank were in the top tenth of their class.

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Frequently asked questions

What does Swarthmore look for in applicants?

Swarthmore rates 6 factors as very important: rigor of high school courses, academic GPA, class rank, application essay, recommendations and character and personal qualities.

Does Swarthmore consider legacy status?

Swarthmore rates alumni relation as "considered" in its 2025-26 Common Data Set.

Does Swarthmore track demonstrated interest?

Swarthmore rates the level of an applicant's interest as "not considered".

What is Swarthmore's early decision acceptance rate?

Early decision: 228 of 1,281 applicants were admitted (17.8%), against 7.5% overall. Early pools include recruited athletes and other students with a strong tie to the college, so the gap overstates the boost for an ordinary applicant.

Source: Swarthmore’s own Common Data Set 2025-26, Section C. Last checked 2026-10-08. The ratings are the college’s own description of its process. Counts are for one entering class.