Last week, letters of admission were sent to 965 prospective members of Swarthmore’s Class of 2029, out of 12,995 applicants.

Here is the admitted class by the numbers:

Twenty-seven percent of the admitted students are among the first generation in their family to attend college. A total of 27% are affiliated with local, national, and international community-based organizations such as A Better Chance (ABC), College Match, EducationUSA, Gear Up, Lenfest Scholars Foundation, Matriculate, Heights Philadelphia, Open Dreams, Our Moon Education, TeenSharp, and QuestBridge. 

Sixty-three percent of the admitted students attend public or charter schools, 27% attend private independent schools, 9% attend religious schools, and 1% are homeschooled. Among all the students, 13% are enrolled in schools abroad, and 6% attend rural public high schools.

Of the admitted students attending high schools reporting class rank, 92% are in the top decile.

“Each year, I have the honor of being among the first to meet our exceptional applicants and future Swatties. I am humbled by reading their stories and letters of recommendation. Through our holistic application review, we begin to understand what these inspiring and tenacious students can accomplish here at Swarthmore,” says Jim Bock '90, vice president and dean of admissions. 

“Whether in the classroom, on the field, in the lab, on stage, or out in the world, the admitted Class of 2029 is full of the qualities we look for in our community — most notably, their enthusiasm for learning and intellectual curiosity, combined with their civic engagement and creative problem-solving. Our whole team in Admissions is eager to welcome them along with transfer students whose applications we will read this spring.”

The admitted students represent six continents, 82 nations, and 50 U.S. states as well as American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. New York is the most highly represented home state of members in the newly admitted class. Rounding out the top 19 with double-digit admits, in order, are California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Texas, Florida, Connecticut, North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois, Washington, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Ohio, Arizona, Minnesota, and Tennessee.

Non-U.S. citizens represent 55 countries in the admitted class, and 111 students carry dual citizenship with the U.S. or have permanent residency.

Engineering is the most popular intended major among the admitted students. Next, in order, are political science, economics, English literature, biology, mathematics and statistics, philosophy, environmental studies, psychology, computer science, physics, music, biochemistry, global studies, and history. Swarthmore expects to yield a first-year class of about 425 students.

Swarthmore Admissions and the entire community look forward to welcoming the incoming class to our campus for Swatstruck this spring and celebrating their arrival in the fall.