Admissions & selectivity
Wellesley College Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Wellesley College?
Wellesley College’s reported acceptance rate is 14.1%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 14.1%
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: Wellesley College Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 8,506 first-year applicants and 1,258 admitted applicants, with 576 enrolling. The federal admission rate is 14.1%, well below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size).
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled Wellesley College students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that among enrolled first-year students who submitted SAT scores, the middle half scored from 1460 to 1540; 44% submitted SAT scores. For ACT submitters, the middle half scored from 33 to 35; 18% submitted ACT scores.
These ranges describe enrolled students who submitted scores, not every enrolled student or a minimum for admission. Among enrolled first-year students with a reported class rank, 88% graduated in the highest tenth of their high-school class and 99% in the highest quarter.
Applicants can compare their own record with the 1460–1540 SAT and 33–35 ACT ranges, keeping in mind that they reflect the enrolled class rather than a set of thresholds.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Wellesley College. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
44% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1460
- Median
- 1500
- 75th percentile
- 1540
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
18% 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: Wellesley College Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at Wellesley College?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 21.1%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 2.5%
- First-year retention
- 96.5%
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.
An estimated 2.5% of entrants at Wellesley College arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the undergraduate body of 2,300 is built almost entirely from first-year students. 21.1% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 8,506 first-year applicants, 1,258 admitted, and 576 enrolled. Transfer applicants numbered 340, with 44 admitted and 18 enrolling.
Pell-eligible applicants should weigh the net price for their income band before deciding.
Wellesley College posts retention and completion figures that sit well above the medians for comparable institutions. The first-year retention rate is 96.5%, and the six-year graduation rate is 91.5%.
The peer medians are 83.4% and 68.8%, respectively. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported a retention rate of 95% for the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class.
Pell Grant recipients in the entering cohort complete at 91.8%, which is 0.3 percentage points above the overall rate. Enrolled students can expect a campus where nearly everyone persists.
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.