Swarthmore College supplemental essays
Swarthmore College asks for two supplemental essays in 2026-27. Common App. Personal statement required (250-650 words).
That is two supplements plus the Common App personal statement: three pieces of writing in all. Early Decision closes November 15, 2026, Early Decision II closes January 4, 2027 and Regular Decision closes January 4, 2027. The prompts carry this limit: 250 words. Every Swarthmore 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 15, 2026 |
| Early Decision II | January 4, 2027 |
| Regular Decision | January 4, 2027 |
Checked against www.swarthmore.edu/admissions-aid/application-materials-deadlines. Confirm on the college’s own page before you submit.
The essays, 2026-27
Required · 250 words
Swarthmore College maintains an ongoing commitment of building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive residential community dedicated to rigorous intellectual inquiry. Our identities and perspectives are supported and developed by our immediate contexts and lived experiences, in our neighborhoods, families, classrooms, communities of faith, and more. What aspects of your self-identity or personal background are most significant to you? Reflecting on the elements of your home, school, or other communities that have shaped your life, explain how you have grown in your ability to navigate differences when engaging with others, or demonstrated your ability to collaborate in communities other than your own.
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Swarthmore's community of learners inspire one another through their collaborative and flexible approach to learning. Swarthmore students are comfortable with intellectual experimentation and connection of ideas across the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and interdisciplinary studies through a liberal arts education. Tell us about a topic that has fascinated you recently, either inside or outside of the classroom. What made you curious about this? Has this topic connected across other areas of your interests? How has this experience shaped you and what encourages you to keep exploring?
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Your Swarthmore College checklist
Two supplements, all required. The first deadline, Early Decision, is November 15, 2026.
- Common App personal statementRequired250-650 words
- Supplements 1 and 2Required250 words each
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Getting into Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College admits 7.5% of applicants. The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 1490-1560 on the SAT and 33-35 on the ACT.
About 1 in 13 applicants are admitted, at a college of 1,613 undergraduates.
| Enrolled students | 25th | Median | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT total | 1490 | 1540 | 1560 |
| SAT reading and writing | 740 | 760 | 770 |
| SAT math | 750 | 780 | 790 |
| ACT composite | 33 | 34 | 35 |
What SAT score do you need for Swarthmore College?
A 1560 puts you in the top quarter of the students who enrolled, a 1540 at their midpoint, and a 1490 at the bottom quarter, meaning one in four enrolled students scored below it. The same three points on the ACT are 33, 34 and 35. 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 Swarthmore College?
- Swarthmore College sets no minimum. Among students who enrolled, the middle 50% scored 1490-1560 on the SAT: a 1490 sits at the 25th percentile, 1540 at the median and 1560 at the 75th. A score at or above 1560 is a clear strength in the application; below 1490 it is the part of the file the rest has to make up for. These are the figures Swarthmore College reports to the US Department of Education, released in the College Scorecard of 2026-09-17.
- What ACT score do you need for Swarthmore College?
- The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 33-35 on the ACT, with a composite of 34 at the median. There is no cutoff: a quarter of the enrolled class scored below 33. Reported by Swarthmore College to the US Department of Education, College Scorecard release of 2026-09-17.
- What GPA do you need for Swarthmore 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 Swarthmore College is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that Swarthmore College admits 7.5% 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 Swarthmore College?
- Swarthmore College admits 7.5% of the people who apply, which is about 1 in 13 applicants. At that rate no set of numbers makes admission likely, a perfect one included, because the college turns away far more qualified applicants than it takes. Strong grades and scores get the application read; the essays, the recommendations and what you have actually done decide it from there.
What Swarthmore 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.
Swarthmore College essay questions, answered
- Does Swarthmore College have supplemental essays?
- Yes. Swarthmore College asks for two supplemental essays in 2026-27. Every prompt is printed in full on this page. Word limits: 250 words.
- How many essays do you write for Swarthmore College in 2026-27?
- Two supplements, plus the Common App personal statement.
Schools with similar admit rates
Swarthmore College admits 7.5% of applicants. The colleges either side of it in our set by admit rate, most selective first, each with its own prompts and deadlines: Colby College (7.1%), Pomona College (7.1%), Bowdoin College (7.1%), Northwestern University (7.7%), Rice University (8.0%), Williams College (8.3%).