Test-optionalED + EA

Occidental College

CA · Private · West · Liberal arts college · Top 50 tier · 1,815 undergraduates (small)

Admission rates

Latest admit rates

Overall admit rate44.8%
Early roundNot reported by roundED counts not in the CDS
Regular round†Not reported by roundearly counts not available

† Not reported by round: this school publishes an overall admit rate but not applicant and admit counts for each round, so early and regular rates can’t be shown.

Trends, Fall 2019–Fall 2025

Admission rates

OverallEarly Decision
0%30%60%'19'20'21'22'23'24'2536.7%40.9%38.2%39.4%39.9%44.2%44.8%48.9%52.4%58.7%59.2%52.2%47.9%

ED share of the enrolled freshman class (% of first-years admitted ED, not an admit rate)

ED admits ÷ enrolled first-years
0%25%50%'19'20'21'22'23'24'2532.0%39.1%45.4%no datano datano datano data

Early plans

Fall 2027 applicants

Early Decision I & II (binding) + Early Action (non-binding) · School admissions page ↗What this means:

Testing

Testing policy

Fall 2027
Test-optionalSchool testing page ↗ · checked Nov 2026
Fall 2028
Fall 2028 policy not yet announced.School testing page ↗ · checked Nov 2026

Superscoring

What this means:

SAT
Superscores
ACT
Superscores

Source ↗ · checked Nov 3, 2026

Test-optional for fall 2027 entry. "You should plan to send all scores to Occidental".

How to send scores

Self-report accepted; school doesn’t say when official scores are due

You can self-report or send official scores. The school’s page doesn’t say when official scores are required.

Send all scores? Requested

School’s words: “Applicants may self-report SAT and ACT scores on their application or request official scores to be sent from the testing agency. ... You should plan to send all scores to Occidental; we will only look at your highest scores when reviewing your academic record.”

Source ↗ · checked Nov 3, 2026

Students submitting scores

Est. % submitting scores‡33%SAT 25% + ACT 8%

‡ Est. % submitting scores adds the share of enrolled first-years who submitted the SAT to the share who submitted the ACT.

Submitted SAT25%
108 students
Submitted ACT8%
36 students

Score ranges (middle 50%)

Enrolled first-years who submitted scores, Fall 2025. A quarter scored below the range and a quarter above.

SAT composite
1400–1510 median 1460
10001600
SAT Reading & Writing
700–760 median 740
500800
SAT Math
670–760 median 710
500800
ACT composite
31–34 median 32
2036

Trends, Fall 2019–Fall 2025

Share of enrolled students submitting scores

SAT + ACT (est.)SATACT
0%50%100%'19'20'21'22'23'24'25100%100%51.0%41.0%36.0%28.0%33.0%68.0%70.0%29.0%26.0%23.0%20.0%25.0%45.0%41.0%22.0%15.0%13.0%8.0%8.0%

SAT composite, middle 50%

25th–75th percentile, enrolled students (labels show both values)
160014001200'19'20'21'22'23'24'251320–1450145013201290–1440144012901350–1470147013501380–1490149013801370–1470147013701400–1495149514001400–151015101400

ACT composite, middle 50%

25th–75th percentile, enrolled students (labels show both values)
3634323028'19'20'21'22'23'24'2528–32322828–33332830–33333031–34343131–34343131–34343131–343431

Waitlist admit rate

Share of students who stayed on the waitlist and were later admitted, by entering class.

  • 2025: 24%
  • 2024: 16%
  • 2023: 7%
  • 2022: 2%
  • 2021: 9%

What is a waitlist? How is it different from a deferral?

Test policy in each Common Data Set

History only. The current policy is under Testing above.

  1. Fall 2027 Test-optional2025-26 CDS
  2. Fall 2025 Not reported2024-25 CDS
  3. Fall 2025 Test-optional2023-24 CDS
  4. Fall 2023 Test-optional2022-23 CDS
  5. Fall 2023 Test-optional2021-22 CDS
  6. Fall 2022 Test-optional2020-21 CDS
  7. Fall 2021 Required2019-20 CDS

Sources