Pitzer College

Pitzer is selective: it admitted about 26.9% of applicants in the most recent cycle, offering admission to roughly 989 of 3,683 first-year applicants and enrolling about 273. Admission is holistic, with the rigor of your high school record, academic GPA, application essay, character, and even your demonstrated level of interest all weighed as very important factors.

Pitzer admitted about 26.9% of first-year applicants in the most recent cycle, roughly 989 of 3,683. Applying through binding Early Decision improves your odds: Pitzer's ED I and II rounds together received 385 applications and admitted 167, an early-round admit rate of about 43% versus the 26.9% overall.

Enrolled first-year students at Pitzer who reported a high school GPA averaged about 3.95 on a 4.0 scale. There is no hard cutoff, but academic GPA and the rigor of your course load are both weighed as very important factors, so strong grades in a challenging schedule matter most.

No. Pitzer is test-free (test-blind): under a policy adopted in 2021, it does not use SAT or ACT scores in admission at all for applicants from Fall 2022 through Fall 2027, even if you submit them. Standardized test scores are listed as not considered, so admission rests on your transcript, essays, and personal qualities instead.

Yes, a lot. Because Pitzer does not consider test scores at all, it rates the application essay as a very important factor, on par with your GPA, course rigor, and personal qualities. With holistic review like this, a specific, well-revised essay is one of the strongest ways to stand out.

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Tuition and required fees run about $67,792 per year, with on-campus food and housing adding roughly $22,926 before books and personal expenses. Pitzer meets essentially 100% of demonstrated financial need; about 35% of first-years receive need-based grant aid, and the average need-based package is near $59,666.

Pitzer is a small liberal-arts college of about 1,193 students in Claremont, California, and a member of the five-college Claremont Colleges consortium, with a 9-to-1 student-faculty ratio and all students living on campus. The social sciences are the most popular field at about 15% of degrees, closely followed by interdisciplinary studies (15%) and environmental studies (12%).

Early Decision can help if Pitzer is your clear first choice, since it is binding. Pitzer offers ED I and ED II, and the two early rounds together admitted 167 of 385 applicants, an early-round admit rate near 43% compared with the 26.9% overall rate. Pitzer also treats demonstrated level of interest as a very important factor, which an early, committed application signals.