Application Information

First-Year Students

Earlham offers several decision periods from which to choose to submit an application for admission to the college. Students are admitted as new students for the spring semester, although first-year students are encouraged to begin their careers at Earlham at the start of an academic year.

Early Decision

This option is for candidates who know that Earlham is their first choice. Students may submit applications to other colleges or universities, but those offered admission to Earlham must withdraw from consideration elsewhere. Students admitted as early decision candidates must respond to the College by January 15.

Early Action

This option is for students who want an early response to their application. Complete application materials by January 1, and the College will notify you of a decision on February 1. Students do not have to withdraw other college applications, and they may wait until the May 1 Candidate's Reply Date to respond to the offer of admission.

Regular Decision

Students who apply by the Regular Decision deadline of February 15 will be notified of an admission decision on or before March 15. Students admitted as regular decision applicants need to respond to the offer of admission by May 1.

Transfer Students

Students who have been enrolled in a degree-seeking program and have completed some academic courses at another college or university are considered "transfer" students. Each year, Earlham welcomes 20-30 such students into its entering class. As a transfer student you are required to submit (in addition to the application form) SAT or ACT scores and an official copy of both your final high school transcript and all college transcripts. Earlham asks students to request a letter of recommendation from a faculty member they have had. The Dean's Report is a standard form used at most institutions admitting transfer students. This form should be completed by the Dean of Students or an official in the Office of Students Affairs at the college you most recently attended.

The Earlham registrar will complete a transfer credit analysis for each admitted transfer student so that you will know what completed courses will transfer to the College and which of Earlham's general education requirements have been satisfied. Much of the academic work in which you have earned a "C" or better is transferable to Earlham.

Transfer students are encouraged to visit campus and to meet with both an Admissions counselor and the College's registrar. In addition to submitting the application essay, transfer students are asked to provide a statement explaining why they want to continue their college education at Earlham.

Application Checklist -- First-Year Students

• Basic Application Form.
• Nonrefundable $30 Application Fee payable online upon submission of application. The College subscribes to the College Board's Fee Waiver Program. If the fee is a hardship, consult your high school guidance counselor.
• Secondary School Report/ Counselor Recommendation. Included with application.
• Teacher's Recommendation. Included with application.
• Secondary School Transcript. Request that your high school send us a copy of your transcript. Make sure that your senior-year classes are listed on the transcript.
• Test Scores. Students are required to take the SAT or the ACT with the writing section. Earlham's SAT code number is 1195; ACT number, 1186. Request that the College Board or the American College Testing Service send your scores to us. SAT Subject tests will be included in our review of an admission candidacy; however, they are not required.
• The Essay. Required. Refer to the information below for guidelines.

Application Checklist -- Transfer Students

• Basic Application Form.
• Application Essay.
• Statement on your reasons for wanting to transfer to Earlham.
• Nonrefundable $30 Application Fee payable online upon submission of application.
• High School Transcript.
• SAT or ACT Test Scores.
• College/University Transcripts.
• Professor's Recommendation.
• Dean's Report.

Guidelines for Completing Your Application

The information you provide on the Earlham application form will be very helpful to us as we evaluate your candidacy for admission. We encourage you to respond to all areas as completely as possible.

For Application Support:

Phone: l-800-EARLHAM
l-800-327-5426
E-mail: admission@earlham.edu

The Earlham Essay

The essay you submit with your Earlham application should be an example of your thinking processes and writing style. This exercise allows you to express your ideas, talents, interests and values, while showing the admissions committee evidence of your writing ability. We ask you to select one of the following options and to submit a well-developed essay that reflects your ability to think, organize, and communicate. We are interested in the originality of your response as well as in the clarity of your expression. We ask that you do not submit a paper written for a class (although you may send a graded school paper in addition to the essay you write for your application). The suggested length for your essay should be equivalent to two to three double-spaced pages.

Option 1

1. Explore an issue of importance to you - such as world hunger, an environmental problem, a national health concern, or peace and justice at home or abroad, or
2. write autobiographically about a significant experience or valued relationship.

Option 2

If you are an international student or have lived, studied or traveled outside the United States, write an essay exploring distinctive aspects of another culture you have experienced or tell a story that explains cross-cultural lessons you have learned that have added to your view of the world.

Option 3

There have been significant advances in our understanding of the human genome and associated technologies such as rapid gene sequencing. While these advances hold great promise for medical treatment (e.g. gene therapy), they also raise important ethical questions. Identify and discuss some of the moral and ethical issues involved with genetic manipulation techniques.

Option 4

Select a work of visual art, music or literature that either changed your outlook on life or opened up aspects of yourself of which you had not been previously aware. Describe the work and how it has affected you. You may also submit an example of your own creative work that was directly or indirectly influenced by the work in question. State in your essay the connection between your own submission and the work that influenced you.

These submissions may be in the form of creative writing (a short story, play or poem), slides of paintings, drawings, sculpture or craft, photography, a musical score - preferably accompanied by a recording on cassette tape or CD (a recording may also be submitted without a score), or a document of an artistic performance (on VHS videocassette or DVD)

Option 5

Advancing technologies for monitoring behavior and for storing and accessing information are promoted as ways to reduce risks and improve efficiencies in health care, marketing, law enforcement, and national security. What is promising and worrisome about these tools, and how might they affect the way we live?