Hampshire College

First-Year Students
Each year, more than 2,500 students apply for 400 available spaces for first-year students in the incoming fall class.

Hampshire’s admission process is highly selective, and the Admissions Committee takes great care to evaluate candidates individually, taking into consideration their multifaceted background as well as their potential to contribute to the Hampshire College community.

Factors Regarding Admissions
The factors that ordinarily influence a candidate’s probability of receiving an offer of admission are:

• Rigor of the high school program
• Academic performance
• Evidence of a critical and analytical thought process
• Quality of writing
• Passion for learning
• Demonstrated initiative and follow-through
• Activities and community involvement
• Ability to enrich our college community

Hampshire's admissions committee seeks students who demonstrate the capacity to take full advantage of the unusually rich set of academic and social opportunities available at Hampshire and through Hampshire’s participation in the Five College consortium.

The 2009 Entering Class Profile >> 

Standardized Testing
For most applicants, Hampshire's admissions process does not require standardized test scores. Test results can, however, sometimes help the admissions committee assess a candidate more fully, and so test scores are accepted as an option in the admissions process.

Approximately 87% of applicants submit scores from the SAT.

Middle 50% SAT I scores
600-710 Critical Reading
560-670 Mathematics

College Board Number: 3447
ACT Number: 1842

Students who do not have grades or detailed narrative evaluations for the last two years of high school are strongly encouraged to submit results from one or more standardized tests such as SAT, ACT, SAT II, or AP examination results.

Advanced Placement Policy
All Hampshire students must complete a distribution requirement of one Introductory-level course in each of Hampshire’s 5 interdisciplinary Schools.

Hampshire offers advanced placement for AP exams scores of 3, 4, or 5. Students who have achieved AP scores of 3, 4, or 5 may substitute more advanced Hampshire courses to satisfy the distribution requirement in appropriate schools.

Official test results should be sent through the mail to the Admissions Office. 

International Baccalaureate Exam Scores
Similarly, students who present International Baccalaureate Higher Level Exam scores of 5, 6, or 7, Advanced British A Level scores of A or B, or comparable scores on the Matura, Abitur, or other advanced secondary-level examination may use 200-level courses to fulfill the first year distribution requirement in the relevant schools.

Dual Enrollment Credit
Hampshire does not grant credit for dual enrollment college courses unless the student will have earned an associate's degree prior to enrollment.

Dual enrollment courses are, however, helpful in the admissions process, as enrollment in college courses demonstrates a capacity for academic engagement.