Admissions Factors

What Wake Forest Looks For

Wake Forest rates 5 factors as very important: rigor of high school courses, academic GPA, class rank, application essay and character and personal qualities.

How Wake Forest rates each factor

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

Very important

Important

Considered

The numbers behind the class

Overall admit rate

20.8%

4,068 of 19,600 applicants

Early decision admit rate

Not reported

Admitted from the waitlist

Not reported

61.2% of those who reported a class rank were in the top tenth of their class.

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Frequently asked questions

What does Wake Forest look for in applicants?

Wake Forest rates 5 factors as very important: rigor of high school courses, academic GPA, class rank, application essay and character and personal qualities.

Does Wake Forest consider legacy status?

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

Does Wake Forest track demonstrated interest?

Wake Forest rates the level of an applicant's interest as "considered".

Source: Wake Forest’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.