Williams College

Yes — Williams is extremely selective, admitting about 8.6% of applicants in the most recent cycle, or roughly 1,336 of more than 15,500 applicants, with about 567 enrolling. There is no single cutoff; admission turns on the rigor of your course load, GPA, class rank, recommendations, and personal qualities, which Williams all weighs as very important factors.

No. Williams is test-optional, so you can apply without submitting scores, and standardized test scores are only 'considered' rather than required in its holistic review. Among enrolled first-years who did submit, the middle 50% scored 1490–1550 on the SAT and 33–35 on the ACT.

A 1500 is solidly competitive: it falls within the middle 50% range of 1490–1550 for enrolled first-years who submitted scores, just above the 25th percentile of 1490. Because Williams is test-optional, scores are only one 'considered' factor — your course rigor, grades, and recommendations carry far more weight.

The binding Early Decision round is meaningfully easier than Regular: Williams admitted 256 of 964 Early Decision applicants, an admit rate near 27%, versus the 8.6% overall rate. Early Decision is a commitment to enroll if admitted, so apply ED only if Williams is clearly your first choice.

Williams does not publish an average admitted GPA, but its class sits at the very top of the high school cohort — among the 17% of enrolled first-years who reported a class rank, about 88% were in the top tenth of their graduating class. There is no hard cutoff, but academic GPA, class rank, and the rigor of your course load are all weighed as very important factors.

Tuition and required fees are about $76,640 per year, with the total cost higher once on-campus housing and food (around $19,320) are added. Williams meets 100% of demonstrated financial need through an all-grant program that has eliminated loans and work-study; about 57% of first-years receive need-based aid, with an average first-year package near $80,302.

Williams is a liberal arts college centered on small seminars and a 7-to-1 student-faculty ratio, with strong outcomes — a 97% first-year retention rate and a 95% six-year graduation rate. The social sciences are the single most-conferred field at about 23% of degrees, followed by mathematics and statistics (9.9%), computer science (8.1%), and psychology (8.1%).

Yes. Williams rates the application essay as an important factor in its holistic review — below academics, recommendations, and personal qualities, but above test scores, which are only 'considered.' With an 8.6% acceptance rate, a specific, well-revised essay is one of the few places a strong applicant can stand out.

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