How to Get Into Swarthmore College: Acceptance Rate & Strategies

July 22, 2025

Swarthmore College is one of the most competitive liberal arts colleges in the country, in the same league with the likes of Williams, Amherst, and Pomona. While less-known to the general public than the Ivy League universities, these schools (including Swat) sport single-digit acceptance rates and are a challenge to gain acceptance into, even for students at the very top of their high school class who possess near-perfect SAT/ACT scores. While this may come as surprise to anyone who doesn’t follow the latest admissions trends, Swarthmore’s admit rate has plummeted from 24% at the beginning of the millenium to under 8% in a recent admissions cycle.

To give prospective Swarthmore applicants a better sense of their admissions chances, this blog will touch on the following topics:

Swarthmore College’s Class of 2029 acceptance rate (plus how to predict your chances with our free admissions calculator)
Swarthmore College’s Early Decision acceptance rate
SAT, ACT, and class rank of accepted Swarthmore College applicants
Admissions trends for the Class of 2029
Swarthmore College’s system for rating applicants
A look at the demographics of current Swarthmore College undergraduates
The percent of accepted students that attend the Swarthmore College (yield rate)
Tips for applying to Swarthmore College
Swarthmore essay prompts
How to assess whether applying to the Swarthmore College is even worth the $60 application fee (for you)

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Swarthmore College Acceptance Rate – Class of 2029

Swarthmore received 12,995 applications for a place in the Class of 2029 and accepted just 965. This means that the acceptance rate is 7.4%.

Historical Swarthmore acceptance rates are as follows:

	Applicants	Admits	Acceptance Rate
Class of 2028	13,065	975	7.5%
Class of 2027	14,287	992	6.9%
Class of 2026	14,707	1,019	6.9%
Class of 2025	13,012	1,013	7.8%

Swarthmore College Early Decision Acceptance Rate

Though Swarthmore College hasn’t released their official ED numbers, we have it on good authority (The Swarthmore Phoenix) that the Class of 2029 ED acceptance rate was 18%. This admit rate is more than double that of the overall acceptance percentage.

What class rank do you need to get accepted to Swarthmore?

89% of enrolled Class of 2028 freshmen finished in the top 10% of their high school class and 99% were in the top quartile. The admitted students in the ’24-’25 admissions cycle are even more impressive, with 92% of admitted students in the top decile of their graduating class. This is something to consider as you think about Swarthmore’s acceptance rate.

What is the minimum SAT or ACT score for Swarthmore?

For Class of 2028 enrolled students, the mid-50% SAT range was 1400-1550. The ACT range was 33-35.

Admissions Trends & Notes – Class of 2029

While the overall Swarthmore acceptance rate has held steady for several years, the ED acceptance rate has dropped nearly 8 points since 2022.
63% of the admitted Class of 2029 attended public high schools, while 27% attended independent schools and 1% are homeschooled.
Swarthmore admitted students from 82 nations and all 50 U.S. states.
27% of admitted Class of 2028 students are first-generation.
The most popular intended majors are engineering, followed by political science, economics, English literature, and biology.

How Swarthmore College Rates Applicants

Swarthmore College views six factors as “very important” to the admissions process: rigor of high school course load, class rank, GPA, application essays, recommendations, and character/personal qualities. Furthermore, standardized tests are relegated to mere “considered” status.

Straight from the Swarthmore admissions office: “We work hard to identify a potential ‘match’ between you and Swarthmore. We look for students who are most likely to thrive in our classrooms, living spaces, and campus community.” To dive into a more school-specific examination of how Swarthmore holistically evaluates applicants, the following traits and valued deeply:

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

Who Actually Gets Into Swarthmore?

Let’s look at the demographics of Swarthmore College’s undergraduate student body. Historically, the states that enroll the greatest number of applicants are:

New York
California
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
Maryland
Massachusetts
Texas
Florida
Connecticut
North Carolina

The regional representation among the undergraduate student body is as follows:

Mid-Atlantic: 37%
West: 14%
Southeast: 11%
Midwest: 7%
New England: 7%
Southwest: 5%
Mountain States: 3%
International: 14%

In terms of ethnic identity, the Class of 2028 breakdown is as follows:

White: 32.5%
Asian: 17.3%
Hispanic: 16.3%
Black or African American: 7.9%
Two or More Races: 10%

A look at the gender split for the Class of 2028 reveals that the university enrolled an even number of men and women:

Men: 50%
Women: 50%

Members of the incoming Class of 2029 attended the following types of high schools:

Public: 63%
Independent: 27%
Religious: 9%
International: 13%

Swarthmore College’s Yield Rate

Swarthmore College’s yield rate—the percentage of accepted students who elect to enroll, divided by the total number of students who are admitted—is 43.7%. This places them close to other top liberal arts schools such as Williams College, Pomona College, and Amherst College. This is something to consider as you think about Swarthmore’s acceptance rate.

Tips for Applying to Swarthmore College

If you plan on joining the 13,000+ Swarthmore College hopefuls for the next admissions cycle, you should know the following:

Swarthmore has extended its test-optional policy through the 2025-26 admissions cycle.
If Swarthmore is your top choice, you’ll want to strongly consider applying ED by November 15. The Regular Decision deadline falls in the first week of January, but the acceptance rates are significantly lower in this round.
This school does offer both virtual fellow interviews with an admissions officer as well as alumni interviews but neither is required. All applicants also have the opportunity to upload a video response. For tips on how to ace your college interview, check out this blog.
Swarthmore College does not consider “demonstrated interest” so you will not be judged on whether or not you made a campus visit, contacted an admissions officer, etc.
You can apply through the Common Application or Coalition Application.
You’ll need to submit a Mid-Year Report in late February, so remember to keep those grades up throughout your senior year of high school.
Lastly, make sure to dedicate sufficient time and effort to the supplemental essay prompts offered by Swarthmore College. In the 2025-26 cycle, the essays are as follows:

Essays

1) Swarthmore College maintains an ongoing commitment of building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive residential community dedicated to rigorous intellectual inquiry.

All who engage in our community are empowered through the open exchange of ideas guided by equity and social responsibility to thrive and contribute as bridge builders within global communities.

Our identities and perspectives are supported and developed by our immediate contexts and lived experiences – in our neighborhoods, families, classrooms, communities of faith, and more.

What aspects of your self-identity or personal background are most significant to you? Reflecting on the elements of your home, school, or other communities that have shaped your life, explain how you have grown in your ability to navigate differences when engaging with others, or demonstrated your ability to collaborate in communities other than your own. (250 words)

2) Swarthmore’s community of learners inspire one another through their collaborative and flexible approach to learning. Swarthmore students are comfortable with intellectual experimentation and connection of ideas across the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and interdisciplinary studies through a liberal arts education.

Tell us about a topic that has fascinated you recently – either inside or outside of the classroom. What made you curious about this? Has this topic connected across other areas of your interests? How has this experience shaped you and what encourages you to keep exploring? (250 words)

For detailed advice about each Swarthmore essay, visit: Swarthmore College Essay Prompts and Tips.

Should I Apply to Swarthmore?

97% percent of those accepted into Swarthmore possessed an SAT score of 1400 or better; 100% earned an ACT score of 30 or higher. Just about everyone finished at or near the top of their high school class. If you check these boxes, then you’ll certainly be a competitive applicant at Swarthmore, but those with additional attributes and talents will fare best.

Swarthmore Acceptance Rate — Final Thoughts

Any student applying to a school of Swat’s caliber also needs to have a proper mix of “target” and “safety” schools on their college list. More on creating a balanced college list can be found here.

Ready to start crafting your college applications? Consider checking out the following resources:

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College Admissions

Dave Bergman

Dave has over a decade of professional experience that includes work as a teacher, high school administrator, college professor, and independent educational consultant. He is a co-author of the books The Enlightened College Applicant (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) and Colleges Worth Your Money (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).