Occidental College, known as “Oxy” for short, was one of the first liberal arts colleges in California. It was founded in 1887, before Los Angeles even had its first paved street! And way, way, way before the installation of the Hollywood sign, that’s for sure. 

From 1990 to now, Occidental students and alumni have won more than 290 major scholarships and fellowships, among them the Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, and Fulbright. Plenty to be proud of! But just how exclusive is Occidental? Let’s find out, shall we?

Occidental College Class of 2029 Acceptance Rate 

Those students who applied to join Occidental in the Class of 2029 faced a 44.9% acceptance rate. Just because that’s higher than some other liberal arts colleges across the country, however, does not mean getting into Oxy is a cakewalk. 

There were 7,489 total applicants, 257 of whom applied Early Decision I and 167 of whom applied Early Decision II. Math-savvy students will want to take note that Early admits make up a whole 1/3rd of the class, about 36%. The admit rate for Early Decision was 65%, while the Regular Decision admit rate was only 44.6%. That’s 20% higher odds for students who get their applications submitted by either the ED I deadline (November 15th) or ED II deadline (January 10th). We at Ivy Coach always tout the advantage of applying Early, and Occidental has just confirmed it!

Let’s check out the qualifications of the Occidental College Class of 2029 to see where future applicants should be setting their sights as they move through high school.

Occidental College GPA Requirements

There haven’t yet been full details released about the Occidental College Class of 2029, but there is some data available. For example, of the matriculants who submitted GPAs, there was a median unweighted GPA of 3.68. 

Furthermore, of the 33% of the Class of 2029 who submitted standardized test scores, the middle 50% for SAT EBRW/Critical Reading was a score range of 700-760, the middle 50% for the SAT Math ranged from 670-760, and finally, the middle 50% of the Class of 2029’s ACT scores was between 31-34. 

So, overall, they looked pretty strong in the numbers. But if we jump a year backwards, we can actually dig a little deeper and get some more detailed information on the GPAs of Occidental’s students. 

The GPAs of Occidental College Class of 2028 Students

According to the Occidental College 2024-2025 Common Data Set:

Score Range	Percent (Students who submitted scores)
Percent who had GPA of 4.0	13%
Percent who had GPA between 3.75 and 3.99	26%
Percent who had GPA between 3.50 and 3.74	33%
Percent who had GPA between 3.25 and 3.49	18%
Percent who had GPA between 3.00 and 3.24	5%
Percent who had GPA between 2.50 and 2.99	4%
Percent who had GPA between 2.0 and 2.49	0%
Percent who had GPA between 1.0 and 1.99	0%
Percent who had GPA below 1.0	0%

The GPAs of Occidental College Class of 2027 Students

According to the Occidental College 2023-2024 Common Data Set:

Score Range	Percent (Students who submitted scores)
Percent who had GPA of 4.0	8%
Percent who had GPA between 3.75 and 3.99	43%
Percent who had GPA between 3.50 and 3.74	25%
Percent who had GPA between 3.25 and 3.49	18%
Percent who had GPA between 3.00 and 3.24	5%
Percent who had GPA between 2.50 and 2.99	1%
Percent who had GPA between 2.0 and 2.49	0%
Percent who had GPA between 1.0 and 1.99	0%
Percent who had GPA below 1.0	0%

The GPAs of Occidental College Class of 2026 Students

According to the Occidental College 2022-2023 Common Data Set:

Score Range	Percent (Students who submitted scores)
Percent who had GPA of 4.0	8%
Percent who had GPA between 3.75 and 3.99	42%
Percent who had GPA between 3.50 and 3.74	29%
Percent who had GPA between 3.25 and 3.49	15%
Percent who had GPA between 3.00 and 3.24	4%
Percent who had GPA between 2.50 and 2.99	1%
Percent who had GPA between 2.0 and 2.49	0%
Percent who had GPA between 1.0 and 1.99	0%
Percent who had GPA below 1.0	0%

What GPA Do Students Need to Get Into Occidental?

There is no official minimum GPA requirement to be accepted into Occidental College, although the data points to students ideally falling at least above a 3.25, or a 3.50 to be safe. But as much as students wish there was a magic formula for college acceptance, with X GPA + Y SAT = acceptance guaranteed, there just isn’t.

However, there are things that students can do to strongly improve their case for admissions, and we’ll give you a hint: it doesn’t just include the numbers. Strong test scores and academic records are important, certainly, and will be more or less heavily weighted depending on the specific school, but even students with perfect grades and scores get rejected. Trust us, it happens. Colleges have so many students to choose from, it takes more than just that to stand out from the crowd!

And with so many colleges seeing record application numbers too, it can become even more competitive. That’s where Ivy Coach can help. 

Ivy Coach’s Help with Occidental College Candidacy

Worried about your student’s GPA, test scores, admissions essays, or unique narrative? Not sure when enough is enough with the extracurriculars and which wonderfully weird extracurriculars to focus on? The college admissions process is overwhelming, no doubt about it. If you’re feeling totally lost, fill out our complimentary consultation form and we’ll reach out to tell you about Ivy Coach’s Strategy Session, designed to ease the burden of admission for both parents and students by providing a detailed, personalized roadmap to the admissions process.