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Admissions & selectivity

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# Williams College Acceptance Rate & Admissions

Updated October 1, 2026

[Overview](/school/williams-college/)[Cost & aid](/school/williams-college/cost/)[Outcomes](/school/williams-college/outcomes/)Admissions[Majors](/school/williams-college/majors/)[Similar schools](/school/williams-college/similar/)

**On this page**+

## What is the acceptance rate at Williams College?

Williams College’s reported acceptance rate is 8.3%.

**Acceptance rate · Fall 2024**
8.3%

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.

First-year applicants and admitted students · CDS 2025-26

**Applicants**
15,520

**Admitted**
1,336

Source: Williams College Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.

How to interpret the acceptance rate

Williams College admits 8.2% of applicants, a figure that sits far from the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the college reported 15,520 applicants, 1,336 admitted, and 567 enrolled first-year students.

## What SAT and ACT scores do Williams College students report?

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, Williams College reported that 88% of enrolled first-year students with a reported class rank were in the top tenth of their high-school class. 97% placed in the upper quarter.

74.2% of enrolled first-year students reported a GPA. Among enrolled students who submitted SAT scores, the middle 50% scored between 1,490 and 1,570.

For ACT submitters, the middle 50% range is 34 to 35. Applicants can use the university's own 1,490 to 1,570 SAT range and 34 to 35 ACT range as context for recent score submitters, rather than as a minimum.

The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Williams College. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range

**Approximate lower endpoint**
1490

**Approximate upper endpoint**
1570

Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.

ACT: enrolled-student score range

**25th percentile**
34

**75th percentile**
35

Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Figures cover fall 2024.

## Who enrolls at Williams College?

**Pell Grant recipients**
17.6%

**Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group**
1.1%

**First-year retention**
96.9%

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.

Williams College enrolls 2,076 undergraduates in total. An estimated 1.1% arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the overwhelming majority of the student body entered as first-years.

17.6% of enrolled students receive Pell Grants. The enrollment, transfer estimate and Pell share describe a college that draws most students through first-year admission and where federal grant aid reaches a minority of those enrolled.

Prospective transfers should check how credits apply in their intended field before submitting an application.

Students who start at Williams College tend to stay and finish. The first-year retention rate is 96.9%, and the [six-year graduation rate](/analysis/what-the-graduation-rate-doesnt-count/) is 93.6%.

Both figures sit well above the peer medians of 83.4% and 68.8% for comparable institutions. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported a retention rate of 97% for the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class.

Enrolled students can expect a campus where nearly everyone returns for a second year and the vast majority finish a degree within six years.

## Data & methodology

Sources and reporting periods: [methodology](/methodology/).

Analysis and methodology by [Daniel Rogers](/about/#founder), 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](/about/).