Swarthmore College - GPA and Test Scores for Admission

Fewer than 20% of students who apply to Swarthmore College get accepted. To get in, you'll need strong grades and test scores. In the graph above, the blue and green dots represent accepted students. You can see that most had "A" averages, SAT scores (CR+M+W) above 2000, and ACT composite scores of 30 or higher. Keep in mind, however, that hidden beneath the blue and green on the graph is a lot of red and yellow. Some students with 4.0 GPAs and high test scores still got rejected from Swarthmore.

Like most selective liberal arts colleges, Swarthmore College has holistic admissions. Successful applicants need to have strengths that go beyond grades and test scores. Competitive applications should have a winning essay, strong letters of recommendation, and interesting extracurricular activities. Challenging high school courses are also essential. As a few of the data points above illustrate, true strengths in some of these areas can compensate for grades and test scores that are a little less than ideal. But be realistic -- no one with a "B" average and mediocre test scores got into Swarthmore.

To learn more about Swarthmore College, high school GPAs, SAT scores and ACT scores, these articles can help:

• Swarthmore College Admissions Profile
• What's Considered a Good Academic Record?
• What's a Good SAT Score?
• What's a Good ACT Score?
• What is a Weighted GPA?


• Articles Featuring Swarthmore College:
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  • Top Liberal Arts Colleges
  • Top Middle Atlantic Colleges
  • Top Pennsylvania Colleges
  • Phi Beta Kappa