Liberal Arts College Acceptance Rates: Increase Your Odds

When asked “what is a liberal arts college?” or “why study the liberal arts?” by students and parents, Top Tier Admissions co-founder Dr. Michele Hernández often cites an article by Dr. James Tatum from Dartmouth College. Classics — and, more broadly, liberal arts — Tatum argues, grants people the “power to see what is going on in their world and […] the potential of having an educated imagination to respond to it.” Are you thinking of applying to a liberal arts college? We’re here to fill you in.

LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE RANKINGS

Each year, U.S. News & World Report releases their ranking of the Best Liberal Arts Colleges. In 2022-23, Williams College topped the list, with Amherst, Pomona, Swarthmore, and Wellesley colleges rounding out the top five. Of these chart-toppers, Pomona College had the lowest Class of 2026 acceptance rate, 6.03%. However, unlike the Ivies, for which overall acceptance rates sat below 7% across the board in the 2021-22 application cycle, some of the top-ranking liberal arts colleges exhibit more generous numbers.

Wellesley College, #5 in the most recent U.S. News & World Report ranking, had a 13% acceptance rate for the Class of 2027, and many of the other liberal arts colleges saw even higher numbers. Wesleyan University and Haverford College, tied at #18 by U.S News, admitted 13.86% and 14.2% of applicants in the 2021-22 admissions cycle, respectively; Middlebury College, ranked #11, admitted 15%; and Davidson College, ranked #15, admitted 16.8%. Applicant pools at liberal arts schools nearly across the board have exhibited an upward trend in recent years, with acceptance rates trending downward.

TTA TAKEAWAY: We realize it comes as no surprise but, college admissions CONTINUES to be uber-competitive, with no signs of slowing. The good news: with a good bit of research and a strong application demonstrating college-student fit and academic focus, you can still score a coveted spot with one of these liberal arts institutions.

Let’s dig into the numbers.

DRIVING FORCES BEHIND LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE ACCEPTANCE RATES

While Ivy League schools like Harvard, Brown, the University of Pennsylvania, and Cornell reported daunting applicant pools upward of 50,000 students in the 2021-22 application cycle, liberal arts colleges continue to see more modest numbers. Most receive between 5,000 and 17,000 applications per year, with only Colgate University exceeding 20,000 applicants in the most recent admissions cycle. (Colgate saw a remarkable 102% increase in applications from the 2019-20 to 2020-21 admissions cycles and seems to still be riding that wave.) Nevertheless, these schools have experienced an increase in applications — and, therefore, in competition — in recent years: Amherst saw a 5.7% increase in applications between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 cycles and a decrease in acceptance rate from 8.74% to 6.93%; Pomona saw a 4.9% increase in applications and a decrease in acceptance rate from 6.64% to 6.03%; Wellesley saw a 9.8% increase in applications and a decrease in acceptance rate from 16% to 13%; and Macalester saw a 6.3% increase in applications and a decrease in acceptance rate from 31% to 25.01%, dipping below 30% for the first time in years.

Pandemic-era test-optional policies largely account for the more competitive recent admissions cycles. Colgate, for example, announced its test-optional policy in April 2020 and has since extended the policy through the 2026-27 admissions cycle. (This cycle, notably, also marked the first for Colgate’s no-loan financial aid initiative, a draw for the university.) Williams similarly continues to be test-optional, as do Amherst, Pomona, and many other top liberal arts schools.

HOW TO INCREASE YOUR ODDS AT LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES

KNOW WHAT MAKES EACH COLLEGE UNIQUE

When you’re applying to a liberal arts school — especially in this increasingly competitive admissions environment — it’s critical that you know what differentiates one school from the next. For each college that interests you, take a look at its mission statement, get to know the majors that it offers, and understand what special stuff the school is proud of (like Haverford’s treasured arboretum, Middlebury’s foreign language instruction, and Williams’ Oxford-style tutorials).

You can get to know more about a school from the topics and themes that they emphasize within their supplemental essays (like Haverford’s Honor Code essay), the majors that they offer, and the student organizations that flourish across their campuses. Learn more about the schools you’re interested in applying to by visiting their websites, planning a trip to campus, and exploring Top Tier’s list of school profiles.

UNDERSTAND THE NUMBERS

Early versus Regular Decision Acceptance Rates

Early Decision programs are a great way to increase your odds of acceptance at a top college. While Williams’ overall acceptance rate sat at 8.51% for the Class of 2026, for example, the Early Decision rate was 31.3%. Moreover, 44% of the Class of 2026 were Early Decision admits. For the Class of 2027, the Early Decision rate was the lowest in Williams’ history, 27%, but this remains, notably, yet far higher than the school’s Regular Decision rate.

Like Williams, most liberal arts schools offer an Early Decision option. Colgate University, Smith, and Vassar actually offer two — Early Decision I and Early Decision II, with the first having an earlier application deadline.

There are drawbacks, of course, to Early Decision, namely that it is binding: a student is expected to apply early only to one institution and to rescind all other college applications if admitted. But with higher acceptance rates and the fact that the more forgiving Early Action is less common among these schools, it is worth it to consider applying early if you know that the school you’ve chosen is, without a shadow of a doubt, the one for you.

The Data on Hooks

Like most schools, liberal arts schools also publish information on the demographics of the incoming class, giving us data on “hooks” (attributes that grant students a competitive advantage, assuming their test scores, GPA, and class rank are in range of a school) including underrepresented minority (or URM) students, first-generation college students, and Pell grant recipients, among others.

Of the Class of 2026, Williams shared that 45% of admitted students were students of color. At Amherst, that number is 49%; at Pomona, it’s 58.5%; and at Swarthmore, it’s 52%. Amherst also shared that 17% of new students are first-generation college students, 12% are international, 20% are Pell grant recipients — and about 17% of the class have “A” names! (It is unclear what overlap there is between these numbers.) At Swarthmore, 24% of the Class of 2026 are first-generation college students, 25% are dual citizens, permanent residents, or non-US citizens, and 20% are Pell grant recipients. And at Pomona, 20% are first-generation college students, and collectively the student body holds citizenship from 51 nations.

Academic Profile of Admitted Students

Even though the liberal arts schools are by and large test-optional, students continued to submit highly-competitive scores as part of their admissions packages in the 2020-21 admissions cycle.

How do these high-scoring students spend their time on campus? Of the admitted students to the Class of 2026 at Pomona, 40% indicated that their academic interests were primarily in the humanities or social sciences, 30% in STEM, 21% in interdisciplinary majors, and 8% remained undecided. Many schools provide similar statistics on their websites. Still deciding if a liberal arts school is the one for you? Read up on their course offerings and concentrations to see if there’s a place where you feel you will thrive.

CAPITALIZE ON YOUR HIGH SCHOOL SUMMERS

So, how do you get into your chosen liberal arts college? Do your research, get to know the school, and cultivate experiences that not only align with your personal goals but that demonstrate to the admissions committee why you’re the perfect fit. At Top Tier Admissions, we guide students in cultivating authentic academic interests and leveraging them for high-impact civic engagement. Summer is a key time for going above and beyond your academic coursework to pursue your own independent learning and then apply that learning in ways that benefit your community.