Updated February 11, 2025
Swarthmore College – Acceptance Rate and Statistics
What is attending Swarthmore College like?
Swarthmore College sits 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the suburban town of Swarthmore. As one of the first coeducational colleges in the United States, Swarthmore has graduated thousands of talented alumni, including six Nobel Prize winners, 13 MacArthur Fellows, and many other accomplished writers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and doctors.
And unlike many liberal arts colleges, Swarthmore offers an engineering program. If you’d like to get your Bachelor of Science in engineering while having a liberal arts college experience, it may be a good fit.
With its proximity to Philadelphia, students have the opportunity to utilize the city for arts, intellectual, and sporting event outings, while maintaining a classic college campus feeling for their daily studies. But if you decide you’d like to escape campus more frequently, the Tri-College Consortium allows Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, Penn, and Haverford students to cross-register for courses at their Philly universities.
Swarthmore College 2023-2024 Admissions Data
Swarthmore College Admissions Statistics
Swarthmore College’s admissions rate has consistently hovered around 6-9% in the last five years. According to the admissions site, Swarthmore offers three rounds of applications:
- Fall Early Decision (November 15)
- Winter Early Decision (January 4)
- Regular Decision (January 4)
Both Early Decision deadlines are binding offers, which is outlined in more detail on Swarthmore’s website.
2023-2024 Swarthmore College (Class of 2028) Acceptance Rate
| Admission Cycle | Number of applicants | Number admitted | Acceptance rate |
| All Applicants | 13,065 | 975 | 7.5% |
Swarthmore College Acceptance Rate History
| Year | Number of applicants | Number admitted | Acceptance rate |
| 2023-2024 (Class of 2028) | 13,065 | 975 | 7.5% |
| 2022-2023 (Class of 2027) | 14,707 | 1,019 | 6.9% |
| 2021-2022 (Class of 2026) | 13,012 | 1,013 | 7.8% |
| 2020-2021 (Class of 2025) | 11,630 | 1,054 | 9.1% |
| 2019-2020 (Class of 2024) | 11,442 | 1,022 | 8.9% |
Swarthmore Class of 2027 Middle 50% score range of admitted students (25th and 75th percentiles)*
| SAT Math | 31-33 |
| SAT ERW | 720-750 |
| ACT Math | 740-780 |
| ACT English | 34-35 |
| ACT Composite | 33-34 |
*What does this mean? The middle 50% score range refers to students from the 25th to the 75th percentile of admitted students. So if 100 students were admitted and we ranked their SAT scores from lowest to highest, we’d be looking at 50 students’ stats (from student 25 through student 75).
What is Swarthmore looking for?
Swarthmore offers a generous amount of advice on their admissions website. They emphasize that there’s no one factor that gets students into Swarthmore, but instead use a “thorough, holistic, contextual, and highly selective application evaluation.” Their site also includes the following characteristics as examples of what Swarthmore values:
- Intellectual curiosity and an enthusiasm for learning
- Creative and proactive problem-solving
- Generosity toward others
- Civic engagement
- Willingness to work hard and to seek help
- Potential contributions to campus life
- Sustained commitment
- Open-mindedness in general and to the liberal arts writ large
You can demonstrate your unique perspective through your essays, academic profile, teacher recommendations, and activities. You may also have the opportunity to participate in an alumni interview.
Other colleges you may be interested in:
| College Name | Number of applicants (Class of 2028) | Number admitted (Class of 2028) | Acceptance rate (Class of 2028) |
| Amherst College | 13,743 | 1,238 | 9% |
| Williams College | 15,411 | 1,159 | 7.5% |
| Pomona College | 12,249 | 811 | 6.6% |
PrepMaven can help you in the admissions process
Wondering how to get into Swarthmore College? PrepMaven can help you along the way. Whether you’re looking to boost your test scores, write a killer personal statement, or improve your GPA, we can be a helpful resource. With tutors who are graduates of top universities, valedictorians, National Merit Finalists, and National AP Scholars, we’re here to help you no matter what step you’re at in the admissions process.
Give us a call at 609-945-2264 or fill out our website form to learn how our flexible packages can work for you.
Alexis
Alexis is a tutor, writer, and producer. She graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. As a tutor, she loves to help students explore their unique stories and share their personal journeys through impactful essay writing.
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