You can use the following applications to apply to a number of schools, including Wellesley.

Friendly reminder: It’s free to apply to Wellesley.

Common ApplicationQuestBridge ApplicationCoalition Application

Specify your decision plan.

When you begin your application, you’ll need to choose a decision plan for each school you apply to. (Check out our dates and deadlines page for more information.)

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.

You’ll need to write two essays: a personal essay and a shorter, Wellesley-specific essay. See our application tips for advice on writing your essays.

The personal essay.

For your personal essay, you may choose from the prompts below or write on a topic of your choice. The essay should be 250 to 650 words.

Current Common Application essay prompts

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

The Wellesley-specific essay

This required writing supplement asks you to respond to the following topic:

When choosing a college, you are choosing an intellectual community and a place where you believe that you can live, learn, and flourish. We know that there are more than 100 reasons to choose Wellesley, but it's a good place to start. Visit the Wellesley 100 and select two items that attract, inspire, or celebrate what you would bring to our community. Have fun! Use this opportunity to reflect personally on what items appeal to you most and why.

We require your transcripts, two teacher evaluations, and a School Report completed by your guidance counselor. These can be submitted online through the Common Application. Once you have selected your high school, you can list and save the names of your counselor and two teachers in the “School Forms” section. Instructions will be emailed to them with information on how to submit the forms online or offline in print.

We will alert you if credentials are missing. It’s your responsibility to follow up on the status of missing credentials and to check with the Office of Admission to see if they have been received. Once we have received your application, you will be able to check the status of your credentials through your Wellesley Applicant Portal.

Teacher evaluations

Carefully consider which teachers you want to ask to fill out your evaluation. Have they gotten to know you personally? Have they seen you improve? Can they comment on your learning style?

Be sure to give your chosen teachers enough time to write your letter of recommendation. They are, after all, busy people with full lives.

School Report

Ask your school counselor to complete the School Report form (with your most recent grades) for the Common Application. They should also include an official transcript and school profile.

If you’re applying for Early Decision, you will need to submit first-quarter or first-trimester grades for your final year of high school. When your midyear grades become available, you will need to ask your counselor to complete the midyear report form (also part of the online application).  

Your school might require that you sign a release for your transcript. If that’s the case, make sure the release covers first quarter grades, midyear grades, and your final transcript so that these credentials aren’t delayed.

Wellesley College has temporarily suspended its standardized test requirement for a four-year period of review. Applicants to Wellesley for entry in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 are not required to submit SAT or ACT test results with their applications. 

Our holistic, committee-based application review process gives us the flexibility to evaluate each applicant’s full record within the context of their available resources. While standardized tests have long served as an external benchmark of college readiness, they are one factor among many that we can consider in the admission process.

Regardless of an applicant’s decision to submit test scores, the admission committee is particularly interested in an applicant’s demonstrated writing and quantitative skills as key predictors for success in Wellesley’s curriculum. 

Standardized Testing FAQs.

If relevant to your application, you may submit these optional credentials.

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:

• You must submit your portfolios, recordings, or presentations electronically through the Wellesley Applicant Portal. Wellesley does not accept art portfolios through the Common Application. Please do not mail any materials to the Office of Admission. Submissions sent by mail will not be reviewed or returned.

• 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. 

Athletic supplement

If you are interested in competing in varsity athletics at Wellesley (Division III), submit a recruiting form to the head coach of your sport.