It may be a small school, but Wesleyan University has turned out some cultural titans. The creators of How I Met Your Mother and Mad Men are Wesleyan graduates, and Mike White, the creator of The White Lotus and a fan favorite on Survivor, also attended the Middletown school. So did Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote his first Broadway hit, In the Heights, while a student at Wesleyan and even staged an early production on campus. It was the Wesleyan alumni network that took Miranda to the big stage. Two alums, John Buffalo Mailer and Thomas Kail, came to see the play and approached Miranda, offering to produce the undergraduate’s play with the goal of an eventual Broadway run. By enrolling at Wesleyan, Miranda was definitely not throwing away his shot.

If your child is a soon-to-be visionary like these creators, or if they just want to spend four years at a top-notch liberal arts college, then you’re probably wondering if they have what it takes to get into Wesleyan. Don’t worry: we’re going to help you answer that question. 

About Wesleyan University 

With only 3,000 undergraduate students, Wesleyan University is a small school that ranks number thirteen on US News & World Report’s list of liberal arts colleges. Wesleyan offers an open curriculum, stating they value student choice: “The drive to explore freely and seek connections across courses generates the intellectual excitement that fuels learning over a lifetime.” And Wesleyan boasts a 7:1 student-faculty ratio, meaning your child will leave Middletown with deep, formative relationships with their professors. 

Socially, Wesleyan stands out for its unique housing system: its residence halls each maintain their own distinctive character. Malcolm X House remains a residence for students of the African diaspora. It also hosts student groups like the Black Student Union, Muslim Student Union, and the Student of Color Barbeque. The pun-forward Writer’s Block houses students interested in the literary arts, where, in addition to shared meals, writing workshops are a staple of residential life.

The acceptance rate at Wesleyan is 16%, making it a competitive institution. Getting in will require strategic planning (and the help of Ivy Coach’s college admissions experts certainly wouldn’t hurt). 

Wesleyan Admissions Requirements 

Unfortunately, Mike White and Lin-Manuel Miranda (as well as Bill Belichick and Maggie Nelson) didn’t all follow the same recipe for getting into Wesleyan. That’s not how college admissions works. Applicants to Wesleyan are evaluated as the individuals they are, each existing within their own specific context. That being said, Wesleyan looks at every applicant’s academic performance, extracurricular achievements, and personal qualities. Let’s see what these features look like for Wesleyan admits. 

What Kind of GPA Is Necessary To Get Into Wesleyan?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a clear answer to that very good question. Wesleyan has not reported the GPA of its incoming first-year students to the Common Data Set Initiative since 2010. The Common Data Set Initiative is a voluntary effort among colleges to help all of those involved with a student’s transition into higher education. We at Ivy Coach have combed through every single one of Wesleyan’s available Common Data sets, and the last available GPA numbers are from a now long-gone moment in terms of analyzing the ever-shifting world of college admissions. 

What Kind of SAT or ACT Scores Are Needed To Get Into Wesleyan? 

The average SAT score for the Wesleyan University Class of 2028 was 1420, and the average ACT score was 33. Although Wesleyan is test-optional, we at Ivy Coach stand firm in our expert opinion that not submitting test scores can only ever hurt an applicant’s chances, even to supposedly test-optional schools. 

What Classes Do Students Need to Take to Get Into Wesleyan?

Wesleyan does not explicitly state any minimum high school course preparation for applicants. But we at Ivy Coach know that highly selective colleges like Wesleyan want to see students excelling in each core subject (English, history, math, science, and foreign language) all four years of high school. In fact, they expect to see five years of foreign language since most students begin their first level of foreign language in eighth grade. Finally, they definitely expect students to take the most challenging courses on offer to them. That means if your kid is at a high school with a dozen AP classes on offer, they ought to have taken a number of them. 

What Kinds of Extracurriculars Does Wesleyan University Like To See?

We’re going to clear up a common misunderstanding: highly selective colleges are not looking for well-rounded students. They’re looking for a well-rounded student body comprised of students who are each singularly talented. 

In terms of extracurriculars, that means Wesleyan is looking for depth over breadth. Let’s look at two imaginary applicants. Both applicants love learning languages and, in addition to their native English tongue, have taught themselves other languages. Applicant 1 has learned a bit of Spanish, a bit of Mandarin, a bit of Portuguese, a bit of Japanese, and a bit of Turkish. But they can’t carry a conversation in any of these languages longer than a minute or two. Applicant 2 has only learned Portuguese. But they can translate old Portuguese poems and have even had one of their translations published in a literary magazine, they’ve founded a Portuguese Club at their school, have taught Portuguese lessons at their local library, and volunteer as a translator at the hospital. We’ll leave the choice up to you: Which applicant are you choosing? 

In case it isn’t clear, Wesleyan is definitely picking Applicant 2. That student is going to be the star student in the Romance Language department’s Portuguese courses, know what to do with research funds as they pursue a thesis on the Portuguese language, and do much more than ride the Eurostar when they do their semester abroad. Applicant 1 is a bit indecisive, it seems, and is not going to know what to do with Wesleyan’s open curriculum. 

So, to repeat: depth over breadth. 

Wesleyan University Application Requirements

Wesleyan University accepts the Common App and Coalition App. They ask for one counselor recommendation and two teacher recommendations. They do not ask any supplemental questions. 

Who Should Students Ask For Letters of Recommendation For Wesleyan? 

Wesleyan applicants should ask two junior year teachers in core subjects. Obviously, the applicant should have a good relationship with each teacher and have performed well in their classes. In addition, at least one of the recommender’s subject areas should be related to the student’s hook: if a student’s singular hook is engineering better prosthetic arms, it wouldn’t make much sense if their recommenders were their History and English teachers. 

Does Wesleyan Require an Interview? 

You can cross this one off your list: they don’t even offer one! 

What Are Wesleyan University’s Application Deadlines? 

Early Decision I and Early Action applications to Wesleyan University are due November 15. Regular Decision and Early Decision II applications are due January 1.  

How Ivy Coach Helps Students Get Into Wesleyan

If you’re interested in discerning if your child has a shot of getting into Wesleyan University, we recommend setting up Ivy Coach’s Strategy Session. Not only will you find out if your child has a chance of getting into Wesleyan University, but you’ll receive a game plan of how your child can optimize their admission to the best school possible.