Application Instructions
A step-by-step guide
We’re here to help. These are the required and optional items needed for a Davis Program application.
While every Davis Scholar has a unique story, what they all share is an eagerness to engage in Wellesley’s vibrant academic community. Students who are successful in the Davis applicant pool typically have completed some recent coursework at a community college. Prior to graduation from Wellesley, the College requires that all students satisfy distribution requirements, including work in English and writing, mathematics, the sciences, social science, and foreign language. When reading an application, application readers must feel confident the application contains evidence that a potential Davis Scholar can be successful in these fields.
Bonus tip: The Office of Admission suggests that students complete, within the last 4-5 years, math courses at least through pre-calculus prior to applying for admission. (Your traditional-age classmates will have typically completed calculus while in high school.)
1. The application
You can use the following application to apply to a number of schools, including Wellesley.
Friendly reminder: It’s free to apply to Wellesley.
Davis Degree applicants use the Common Application for Transfer Candidates.
To apply to Wellesley as a Davis Degree applicant, you must complete and submit the online Common Application for Transfer Candidates. It’s free to do so. Please be sure to identify yourself as a transfer applicant when you register for your Common Application account.
Use your legal name throughout.
Be sure to be consistent and use your legal name (as it appears on your passport or other legal documents) on all of your application materials. This may sound obvious, but it’s really important! If you go by another name, list that as your “preferred name” on the application and that’s the name we’ll use when we get in touch with you.
2. The essays
You’ll need to write a personal essay and a shorter, Wellesley-specific essay. See our application tips for advice on writing your essays.
Personal Statement 1
Within the Common Application, you will be directed to provide a short answer to the following prompt:
Please provide a statement that addresses your reasons for transferring and the objectives you hope to achieve in doing so.
Personal Statement 2
You must also respond to the following Wellesley-specific statement:
When choosing a college community, you are choosing a place where you believe that you can live, learn, and flourish. Generations of inspiring women have thrived in the Wellesley community, and we want to know what aspects of this community inspire you to consider Wellesley. We know that there are more than 100 reasons to choose Wellesley, but the “Wellesley 100” is a good place to start. Visit The Wellesley 100 and let us know, in two well-developed paragraphs, which two items most attract, inspire, or energize you and why. (Not-so-secret tip: The “why” matters to us.)
3. Required credentials
The following credentials can be submitted online through the Common Application. Once you have selected the school at which you were most recently enrolled school, you can list and save the names of your evaluators in the “School Forms” section. Instructions will be emailed to them with information on how to submit the forms online or offline in print.
High school transcript
Submit an official final transcript from the high school from which you graduated. If you received a high school certificate of equivalency, official G.E.D. scores and/or a high school transcript for the years you attended, they are required and will be considered in conjunction with your performance at the college level. An official secondary school final transcript must be sent directly from the high school with school seal or stamp affixed. Although we require your final high school transcript, we do not need the School Report.
College transcript
Submit official transcripts from all colleges and universities you have attended. The form for requesting this information should be sent to the registrar of the colleges you attended. You should check with the school for procedures and fee information before requesting a transcript. Transcripts must be sent directly from the college. Student or online copies are not accepted. Please arrange for the college(s) to send official copies directly to Wellesley’s Office of Admission.
College Report
Please provide a College Report completed by your academic advisor or dean. This report tells us if you are in good standing at your current or most recent institution. The college report form can be found in the Common Application.
Course catalog descriptions
You must submit individual course descriptions from the individual course catalog of courses you have taken and are currently taking. The course descriptions can be uploaded with your application.
College instructor evaluation
Two evaluations/recommendations from recent college courses are required. Please invite each of your college recommenders to complete your recommendation letters within the Common Application. Recent academic evaluations are more useful to the Office of Admission. If you have been out of school for several years and are therefore unable to obtain academic evaluations, you may submit one from an employer or a supervisor in community activities where you have worked. Evaluations/recommendations from friends and relatives are discouraged.
Mid-term report
The mid-term report must be completed by any applicant who is currently enrolled in courses. Applicants may self-report their mid-year grades, however if admitted and enrolling, will be required to submit official grades. Please list the courses that you are taking in the current semester on this form and return it to our office immediately following the midpoint of the semester (March 25). The form gives us a sense of how you’re doing in your current coursework, so ideally it would be filled out closer to midterms. If you turn in a form with no grades, it will not be considered in your file.
4. Optional items
If relevant to your application, you may submit these optional credentials.
Standardized test scores
Davis Program applicants are not required to send us their scores, although you’re welcome to self-report them if you’d like. Applicants submitting self-reported scores, will if admitted and enrolling, be required to send official scores. Results must be released to Wellesley College from the testing agency. The College Board school code for Wellesley is 3957. The ACT school code for Wellesley is 1926.
Arts, music, or theatre portfolio
If you have a special talent in the arts, you might want to submit an arts portfolio.
Our art, music, and theatre studies departments will accept electronic submissions of portfolios, recordings, or presentations. The appropriate department will review your material.
Wellesley College does not have a dance department and does not review creative writing materials. Please do NOT submit any dance and/or creative writing supplements as they will not be evaluated.
To submit an arts portfolio:
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You must submit your portfolios, recordings, or presentations electronically through the Wellesley Applicant Portal. Wellesley does not accept art portfolios through the Common Application or Coalition Application. Please do not mail any materials to the Office of Admission. Submissions sent by mail will not be reviewed or returned.
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Follow the guidelines and instructions as outlined by Wellesley’s art, music, and theatre studies departments.
- Please submit your Arts Portfolio through your Wellesley Applicant Portal. Portfolio submissions must be received within a week of the application deadline in order for our faculty to have sufficient time for review.
Grads: Maria and Samantha
The years after the Wellesley years
