Wesleyan enrolls a total of approximately 3,200 undergraduate students and we currently enroll around 800 first-year students and 30 transfer students each fall.

That number changes each year. We received over 14,500 first-year applications for the Class of 2026.

For Fall 2022, 2,020 first-year students were offered admission to Wesleyan.

Wesleyan does not calculate an average GPA for admitted students nor do we recalculate high school core GPA. Our application review process is a holistic one; we evaluate your entire high school transcript, including course selection and grades achieved.

At least 18% of students at Wesleyan have identified themselves as having a disability and have requested accommodations related to academics, housing or dining. Whether to disclose during the admission process is up to you. The Office of Admission does not discriminate on the basis of disability. As is with all students, students who are admitted must meet the standards and be qualified for admission. Some students choose to share this information with admission officers. Others choose to speak only with Accessibility Services. Information disclosed to Accessibility Services staff is not shared with the Office of Admission unless the prospective student provides written permission. Students who wish to request accommodations should review the Accommodations at Wesleyan website for information about the process for requesting accommodations.

Students may apply to Wesleyan through the Common Application or Apply Coalition, Powered by Scoir.

No, students may only apply online. Students can still print-preview an application, but the print-preview version must not be mailed to any school to which you are applying. The print-preview shown to the student is identical to the document that colleges see.

Yes. The Wesleyan enrollment deposit is $250. Please note: The deposit is non-refundable. If a student withdraws from their place in the class, we will not refund their enrollment deposit. 

The Wesleyan admission committee wants to see two teacher recommendations. These recommendations should come from teachers who know you well and who can speak to the quality of your work in the classroom. We want to know about your academic engagement, your curiosity, and your willingness to go above and beyond minimum requirements. Wesleyan prefers that one teacher recommendation come from a math or science teacher, and the other come from an English or social studies teacher. While this is not required, we feel that this is the best representation of you as a student in different areas of the curriculum and shows your fit with the liberal arts education we offer. We also suggest that teacher recommendations be from 11th or 12th grade, if possible.

Music, art or other elective instructors may write a recommendation for you, but they do not count as one of the two academic subject teacher recommendations.

Wesleyan does not factor demonstrated interest into admission decisions; therefore, your inability to visit campus will not have an impact on your candidacy. That said, we encourage campus visits because they are useful avenues for students and families to learn more about our resources, climate, and community.

No, Wesleyan does not factor AP scores into the admission process.

Wesleyan awards up to two course credits for AP, IB or college courses taken prior to matriculation. While a maximum of two credits earned before matriculation may count toward the Wesleyan degree, all such credits that have been approved by Wesleyan departments will be listed on the student’s transcript. This applies to Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and Advance-Level exams, as well as any college-level courses taught by a college teacher in a college setting, provided that the course meets Wesleyan’s transfer credit criteria. We do not offer advanced standing. Visit the Office of the Registrar for more information.

Class rank helps us to put your classroom achievement into your school’s context. While we would prefer that class rank be reported, we understand that many schools' policies differ and we do not penalize students who are not ranked.

Students will need to contact the Wesleyan Admission Office directly, in writing, on or before the application deadline: November 15 for ED1; January 1 for ED2 and Regular Decision. Be sure to include your full name and Common Application or Scoir ID. Send your request to admission@wesleyan.edu.

Wesleyan University is committed to an application process that treats everyone—including those who have a disciplinary record at their school or schools, as well as those who have a history in the judicial system—with the opportunity to be considered as individuals who have learned from their life experiences.

At Wesleyan, we believe in second chances. We are sensitive to the deep concerns many have about the fairness of our justice system and whether it equitably serves all members of our society. We know that higher education can be an important engine of social and economic mobility. Additionally, higher education can enable individuals to make positive contributions to society.

Wesleyan University uses the Common Application and the application for the Scoir, along with the QuestBridge application as a function of our long-standing partnership.

In our commitment to honoring each person’s potential, we will no longer take into account any answer to broad questions about past criminal or disciplinary offenses. Instead, in the absence of clear, objective studies about the predictive value of such questions, Wesleyan has substituted its own narrower questions about convictions or disciplinary actions in the Wesleyan-specific part of the application.

We believe these narrower questions strike a better balance between giving people a second chance through higher education and providing the University with information that may have an impact on our community. Answering “yes” to these questions is not an automatic bar to admission: Admission officers won’t see an applicant’s answers to these questions until the preliminary assessment of the application—based on academic merit—indicates that the applicant’s candidacy will receive further consideration.

We review all candidates for admission holistically. While academic qualifications are the primary consideration in this evaluation process, our individual assessments also include analysis of each applicant’s extracurricular accomplishments, work experience, letters of recommendation, essays, personal characteristics, talents, and life experiences.

Our Admission Process

In keeping with our commitment to treating those with a disciplinary or judicial-system history with dignity and respect, Wesleyan’s policy beginning with the 2018-19 admissions cycle (for admission in fall 2019) will be:

• To ignore the questions on the universal section of the Common App or other applications: Wesleyan will ignore any answers that applicants provide to the questions in the main section of the Common Application regarding criminal and disciplinary history because we believe them to be too broad. Instead, we ask two more sharply focused questions that we think are more relevant to the issues of living in a learning community on a residential campus.
• First reading without information about disciplinary history: All applications for traditional undergraduate admission are initially reviewed by admission officers without knowledge of whether students have “checked the box” in the section of the application indicating a criminal or disciplinary history.
• Second Review: Applications that receive a positive first review and are deemed competitive for admission will move forward in the evaluation process. At this time, the applications of those who indicated either disciplinary or criminal history—or both—will be studied to fairly assess whether a past offense does or does not indicate their readiness to join the Wesleyan community of learners. The admission officers will be particularly interested in the individual’s ability to frame the past incidents in context, as well as provide a perspective indicating emotional growth and willingness to engage in self-reflection.

Ours is a highly selective, competitive process and, in the spirit of holistic review, there is no formula or any single number, grade, test score, or experience that guarantees admission. All candidates are expected to help the admission committee learn their personal narratives, the context in which they have been living and learning, along with an understanding of what each might contribute to the Wesleyan community.

Yes. Typically, 20 to 25 admitted students in each class are granted deferred enrollment. The $250 non-refundable enrollment deposit must first be paid to secure matriculation. Upon approval, the Wesleyan Office of Admission will allow students to postpone matriculation for one year. In order to obtain approval, applicants must fill out and submit a plan for their “gap year.” The required deferred enrollment request form must be received by February 1 for Early Decision I, May 1 for Early Decision II, and June 1 for Regular Decision. Requests will be reviewed upon receipt and students will be notified of their outcomes within a couple of days of the previously mentioned deadlines. It is important to note that students granted deferrals cannot submit any admission applications to other institutions or enroll full-time at any other institution of higher education. Once students’ requests for deferment are received and approved, formal letters acknowledging their deferred status will be sent. An essay, briefly describing deferral activities and reaffirming intention to enroll at Wesleyan, is required by January 15 of the deferral year.

Yes - All Wesleyan employees, including Admission Office representatives are considered Mandated Reporters (concerning abuse, neglect or injury to minors) pursuant to Connecticut law.