Admissions & selectivity
Bowdoin College Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Bowdoin College?
Bowdoin College’s reported acceptance rate is 7.1%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 7.1%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
Source: Bowdoin College Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Bowdoin College admits 7.1% of applicants, a figure that sits well below the median of 75.7% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 14,045 first-year applicants, 957 admitted students, and 515 who enrolled.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled Bowdoin College students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported the middle half of SAT scores for enrolled first-year students who submitted them: 1470 to 1540. 35% of the entering class submitted SAT scores.
For the ACT, the middle half of submitters scored from 33 to 35, with 17% of enrolled students submitting. These ranges describe enrolled students who chose to report scores, not a minimum for admission.
Among enrolled first-year students with a reported high-school class rank, 89% finished in the highest tenth and 100% in the highest quarter. 27% of the entering class reported a rank.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Bowdoin College. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
35% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1470
- Median
- 1510
- 75th percentile
- 1540
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
17% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 33
- Median
- 34
- 75th percentile
- 35
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: Bowdoin College Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at Bowdoin College?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 17.3%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 1.4%
- First-year retention
- 96.8%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
Bowdoin College enrolls 1,873 undergraduates. 17.3% receive Pell Grants, and an estimated 1.4% enter as transfers or part-time students.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 14,045 first-year applicants, 957 admitted, and 515 enrolled. For transfer students, the same edition reported 362 applicants, 29 admitted, and 12 enrolled.
The composition points to a campus built almost entirely around a traditional first-year entry path. Pell-eligible and transfer applicants should review the cost calculator for a grant-adjusted price estimate and understand that transfer admission is a narrow route.
Of full-time, first-year students, 96.8% return for a second year, well above the 74.2% median for comparable institutions. The six-year graduation rate is 95.3%, against a peer median of 54.9%.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported a retention rate of 98% for the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class. Enrolled students can expect completion and retention rates that sit well above the peer medians.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.