Occidental College supplemental essays
Yes, but every one is optional. Occidental College prints one supplemental essay in 2026-27 and requires none of them. Common App. Personal statement required (250-650 words).
That is one supplement plus the Common App personal statement: two pieces of writing in all. Early Decision closes November 1, 2026, Early Action closes November 1, 2026 and Early Decision II closes January 10, 2027, with the rest in the table below. The prompts carry this limit: 250 words. Every Occidental College prompt is printed on this page in full, with its word limit and who has to answer it, checked against the college’s own admissions page.
Deadlines
| Round | Date |
|---|---|
| Early Decision | November 1, 2026 |
| Early Action | November 1, 2026 |
| Early Decision II | January 10, 2027 |
| Regular Decision | January 10, 2027 |
Checked against www.oxy.edu/admission-aid/first-year/application-requirements. Confirm on the college’s own page before you submit.
The essays, 2026-27
Optional · 250 words
Why are you applying to Occidental? Why do you think Occidental is the right place for you to pursue your interests?
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Your Occidental College checklist
One supplement, optional. The first deadline, Early Decision, is November 1, 2026.
- Common App personal statementRequired250-650 words
- SupplementOptional250 words
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Free: this page, the checklist, the essay manager and the topic quiz. Paid: a written review of a finished draft, $49 an essay.
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Getting into Occidental College
Occidental College admits 44.2% of applicants. The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 1380-1520 on the SAT and 31-34 on the ACT.
About 1 in 2 applicants are admitted, at a college of 1,877 undergraduates.
| Enrolled students | 25th | Median | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT total | 1380 | 1440 | 1520 |
| SAT reading and writing | 690 | 720 | 750 |
| SAT math | 690 | 720 | 770 |
| ACT composite | 31 | 33 | 34 |
What SAT score do you need for Occidental College?
A 1520 puts you in the top quarter of the students who enrolled, a 1440 at their midpoint, and a 1380 at the bottom quarter, meaning one in four enrolled students scored below it. The same three points on the ACT are 31, 33 and 34. A quarter of an enrolled class scoring under the 25th percentile is not a rounding error, so a score below the range is a reason to strengthen the rest of the application rather than a reason not to apply.
US Department of Education, College Scorecard (2026-09-17). Percentiles describe students who enrolled, not everyone admitted. SAT totals are the reading and math bands added together, which is how every source in this market reports them and is an approximation of about 10 to 20 points, because the two sections are correlated.
- What SAT score do you need for Occidental College?
- Occidental College sets no minimum. Among students who enrolled, the middle 50% scored 1380-1520 on the SAT: a 1380 sits at the 25th percentile, 1440 at the median and 1520 at the 75th. A score at or above 1520 is a clear strength in the application; below 1380 it is the part of the file the rest has to make up for. These are the figures Occidental College reports to the US Department of Education, released in the College Scorecard of 2026-09-17.
- What ACT score do you need for Occidental College?
- The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 31-34 on the ACT, with a composite of 33 at the median. There is no cutoff: a quarter of the enrolled class scored below 31. Reported by Occidental College to the US Department of Education, College Scorecard release of 2026-09-17.
- What GPA do you need for Occidental College?
- The honest answer is that the federal data behind this page does not contain one. Colleges report their admit rate and their enrolled students' test scores to the Department of Education; they do not report a GPA distribution, so any site quoting an exact average GPA for Occidental College is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that Occidental College admits 44.2% of applicants, and the more selective a college is, the closer to the top of the class its admitted students sit and the more the strength of your course load counts alongside the number itself.
- How hard is it to get into Occidental College?
- Occidental College admits 44.2% of the people who apply, which is about 1 in 2 applicants. Numbers inside the reported range put you in a real position here, and the application itself decides the rest.
What Occidental College costs after grant aid, by family income, from the same federal data.
Sort your whole college list into reaches, targets and likelies, or find colleges that fit your GPA and test scores. Both are free and neither needs an account.
Occidental College essay questions, answered
- Does Occidental College have supplemental essays?
- Yes, but every one is optional. Occidental College prints one supplemental essay in 2026-27 and requires none of them. Every prompt is printed in full on this page. Word limits: 250 words.
- How many essays do you write for Occidental College in 2026-27?
- One supplement, plus the Common App personal statement.
Schools with similar admit rates
Occidental College admits 44.2% of applicants. The colleges either side of it in our set by admit rate, most selective first, each with its own prompts and deadlines: University of South Florida (43.2%), Union College (NY) (43.9%), Morehouse College (44.0%), Texas Christian University (44.5%), Bennington College (44.5%), University of Maryland, College Park (44.8%).