University of Washington Acceptance Rate: Class of 2029 Data, Residency, Direct to Major, and What It Means for Your Odds

What Is the University of Washington Acceptance Rate?

The University of Washington acceptance rate for the Class of 2029, the students who entered the Seattle campus in autumn 2025, was 41.7%. UW received 72,933 first-year applications, admitted 30,446, and enrolled 7,129, according to the university’s Common Data Set for 2025-2026. One year earlier the numbers were 69,166 applications, 27,076 admits, and 7,195 enrolled, a 39.1% rate. Two years earlier the rate was 42.5% on 62,428 applications. The UW acceptance rate, as most applicants search for it, has therefore held in a narrow band around 40% for three cycles even as the applicant pool grew by more than 10,000.

Yield, the share of admitted students who enrolled, was 23.4% by our calculation, down from 26.6% the prior year. UW admitted 3,370 more students and enrolled a class of roughly the same size, 7,129 against 7,195.

Source: University of Washington Common Data Sets 2025-2026, 2024-2025, and 2023-2024, Seattle campus, section C1. Rates are by our calculation from the reported counts.

Full Class of 2030 figures, for students who entered in autumn 2026, will appear in the 2026-2027 Common Data Set. In its message to waitlisted applicants, the admissions office reported about 77,400 applications for an expected entering class of 7,300.

Does Residency Change the University of Washington Acceptance Rate?

Very little for autumn 2025. For autumn 2025, UW admitted 6,980 of 15,260 Washington residents (45.7%), 18,813 of 44,619 out-of-state domestic applicants (42.2%), and 4,653 of 13,054 international applicants (35.6%). The gap between residents and out-of-state domestic applicants is 3.5 points by our calculation; counting international applicants, nonresidents were admitted at 40.7% (23,466 of 57,673), a 5.0-point gap. Over a longer window the gap is wider: the admissions office reports three-year average admit rates of 47% for Washington residents and 39% for nonresidents. Our Washington out-of-state acceptance rate analysis covers nonresident strategy in more detail.

The more revealing number is what happens after admission. By our calculation, residents enrolled at a 65.8% yield, nonresidents at 9.8%, and international admits at 14.9%. UW admitted 18,813 out-of-state domestic students for autumn 2025, and 1,843 enrolled. For a strong out-of-state applicant, Oriel Admissions reads UW as a realistic admit at the university level, and the question is whether the specific major is open.

Source: University of Washington Common Data Set 2025-2026, section C1, residency detail. The enrolled class was 64.5% Washington residents, 25.9% out-of-state, and 9.7% international.

The residency gap has also been narrowing, by our calculation from the Common Data Sets. In autumn 2023 residents were admitted at 52.3% and nonresidents at 38.5%, a 13.8-point gap. In 2024 it was 47.9% against 36.2%, an 11.7-point gap. In 2025 it fell to 3.5 points, as the resident rate fell and the out-of-state domestic rate rose by six points. For Washington families, the in-state advantage was much smaller for autumn 2025 than it was two cycles earlier.

Why Is the Direct-to-Major Rate More Important Than the UW Acceptance Rate?

Because for the majors most applicants care about, admission to the university is not admission to the program. UW admits first-year students in two ways. Most are admitted to the university with a pre-major status and declare a major later; some majors require a separate departmental application. A smaller set are admitted directly into a major or college on the strength of their first-year application, in what UW calls Direct to Major and Direct to College. Computer science and computer engineering in the Paul G. Allen School, the College of Engineering, and the Foster School of Business all use direct admission, and the applicant’s first-choice major on the application is the only one considered for it.

The published three-year average admit rates tell the story. For computer science and computer engineering, Direct to Major admits about 30% of Washington residents and about 2% of nonresidents. For the College of Engineering’s Direct to College, the figures are about 43% for residents and 37% for nonresidents. The Allen School says it can admit around 630 new undergraduates a year across its three pathways combined, and its own admissions page states that admission for current UW students who did not enter directly is competitive with no guarantee. An out-of-state student who lists computer science first is therefore applying to a program with a 2% three-year average admit rate while the university’s headline rate says 42%.

Source: University of Washington Office of Admissions, First-year students by the numbers, three-year average admit rates as published. Every row is a three-year average as UW publishes it.

The strategic consequence is that a second-choice major on the UW application is not a fallback into the program. UW’s own instructions say the second choice is used to review the student for general admission and for statistical purposes, not for placement into direct-admit options. A student who is admitted to UW as a pre-major after being denied Direct to Major in computer science can apply to the Allen School as a current student, but the Allen School describes that route as competitive with no guarantee of admission. Our guide to how to get into the University of Washington covers the Allen School, Foster, and engineering strategy in depth, and our list of the best colleges for computer science puts the Allen School’s selectivity in national context.

What GPA and Test Scores Do You Need for the University of Washington?

UW handles test scores differently from most test-optional schools. The university removed the SAT and ACT requirement permanently in June 2020, and its policy goes further: application readers do not see test scores even when a student sends them. The one exception is narrow. High scores, which UW defines as 1400 on the SAT or 31 on the ACT or above, may be considered for a small number of students who would not otherwise be admitted. Homeschooled applicants and students from schools without letter or numeric grades still must submit scores. UW also states that sending scores does not help in direct admission to computer science or engineering, or in Honors Program review. For everyone else, the transcript, the rigor of the curriculum, and the writing carry the file. Our analysis of whether test optional is really optional explains how UW’s approach differs from schools that quietly still weigh scores.

Because scores are not read, the score data in the Common Data Set describes who chose to send them, not what UW required. For the Class of 2029, 19.1% of enrolled students submitted an SAT and 4.9% submitted an ACT. Among submitters, the middle 50% SAT was 1320 to 1502 with a median of 1440, and the middle 50% ACT was 30 to 34 with a median of 32. The prior year, the SAT middle 50% was 1333 to 1500 with a median of 1410, and the ACT was 28 to 33.

Source: University of Washington Common Data Set 2025-2026, section C9. Scores are for enrolled students who submitted them; UW does not consider scores in review except in the narrow high-score case described above.

GPA is where the real threshold sits. The average high school GPA of enrolled first-year students was 3.84 on a 4.0 scale, reported for 99.9% of the class. Just over 18% had a 4.0, 58% were between 3.75 and 3.99, and 18% were between 3.50 and 3.74. UW also publishes the middle 50% GPA of admitted students for autumn 2025 as 3.75 to 3.98. A student below 3.75 is in the bottom quarter of admitted students before the major is considered, and for a direct-admit major that student needs something else in the file that is exceptional.

Source: University of Washington Common Data Set 2025-2026, section C12. Average GPA 3.84.

Does the University of Washington Have Early Decision or Early Action?

No. UW offers neither Early Decision nor Early Action. There is one first-year application, on the Common App, that opens August 15 and closes November 15 for both summer and autumn entry. Decisions are released between March 1 and March 15, and the enrollment confirmation deadline is May 1. The application fee is $85 for domestic applicants, with waivers available, and $95 for international applicants. If a student chooses to send test scores, the deadline is December 31, though as explained above the scores are not read in the standard review.

The absence of an early round removes a lever that matters at many schools on a competitive list. UW does not consider demonstrated interest, so there is no way to signal commitment, no binding round, and no December decision to use as a planning anchor. Every applicant is read in one pool. That makes the November 15 deadline more consequential than it looks: it arrives two weeks after the common November 1 Early Action date and well before most Regular Decision deadlines, and a student who treats UW as a January school will miss it. Our college admissions timeline places the UW deadline alongside the others.

Source: University of Washington Office of Admissions, Dates and deadlines; Common Data Set 2025-2026, section C21.

What Are Your Chances on the University of Washington Waitlist?

Highly variable from year to year. For autumn 2025 UW offered 15,363 students a place on the waitlist, 8,350 accepted, and 2,252 were eventually admitted, about 27.0% of those who stayed on the list. A year earlier the list was similar in size, 15,591 offered and 7,983 accepting, but only 1,596 were admitted, about 20.0%. Two years earlier the list was half the size and the outcome was dramatically different: 7,915 offered, 4,122 accepted, and 2,985 admitted, about 72.4%.

Source: University of Washington Common Data Sets 2025-2026, 2024-2025, and 2023-2024, section C2. UW reports that it does not rank its waitlist.

UW does not rank its waitlist, and its waitlist page states that decisions are based on the original application: additional materials such as transcripts, letters of recommendation, and letters of continued interest are not considered. Students on the waitlist are generally not considered for direct admission programs. For autumn 2026, the form to join the waitlist was due April 1, and the notification period ran from May 15 to August 1. The admissions office also publishes its own waitlist counts, which differ from the Common Data Set; for 2025 it reports that 3,032 of 15,741 students on the waitlist were offered admission.

How Does the University of Washington Acceptance Rate Compare to Other Top Public Universities?

At the university level UW admitted 41.7% of applicants for autumn 2025. That figure is misleading in both directions. UW admits far more nonresidents than enroll, and its computer science direct admission rate for nonresidents, about 2% on a three-year average, sits far below the university rate. A family comparing UW to Michigan, Berkeley, UCLA, or Purdue should compare program to program, not university to university. Our top 25 admissions statistics and out-of-state acceptance rates hub give the peer figures in one place.

The second difference is the calendar. Purdue, Ohio State, Indiana, and Minnesota all run nonbinding Early Action rounds with decisions in December or January; UW does not. A student building a list of top publics should expect UW to be among the last decisions to arrive, between March 1 and March 15, and should try to have at least one early-round admit in hand before then.

What Does the University of Washington Acceptance Rate Mean for Your Strategy?

Three things follow from the data. First, classify UW by major, not by university. For a student applying to the College of Arts and Sciences as a pre-major with a 3.8 unweighted GPA and a rigorous schedule, In our view, UW is a target for a Washington resident and a reasonable target for a nonresident. For a student listing computer science first, it is a reach for a resident and a far reach for a nonresident, and the second-choice major does not soften that. Families should decide which application they are actually submitting before they place UW on the list.

Second, redirect the energy that would go into test preparation. Because readers do not see scores, we tell a student targeting UW to put the hours into course rigor in senior year, into the Common App personal essay and the rest of the writing section, and into the activities section. The one exception is a student whose transcript is borderline and who can reach 1400 or 31: that score can be considered, and for that student alone testing is worth the effort. Everyone else should treat the SAT and ACT as instruments for other schools on the list.

Third, plan for a March decision and for cost. UW’s single deadline and single decision window mean the family will not know until mid-March, and for 2026-27 UW lists Seattle undergraduate tuition of $44,580 for nonresidents and $12,664 for Washington residents, or $45,546 and $13,630 with mandatory fees (UW Finance, 2026-27 Tuition and Fees). Our guide to whether an out-of-state flagship is worth it frames the cost side of that decision, and our Washington out-of-state analysis addresses the specific question of whether UW is worth full nonresident tuition for a pre-major admit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: University of Washington Common Data Set 2025-2026, Seattle Campus, University of Washington Common Data Set 2024-2025, Seattle Campus, University of Washington Institutional Analytics and Decision Support, Common Data Set archive, University of Washington Office of Admissions, First-Year Students by the Numbers, University of Washington Office of Admissions, SAT and ACT Scores, University of Washington Office of Admissions, Dates and Deadlines, Paul G. Allen School Undergraduate Admissions, University of Washington Office of Admissions, How to Apply, University of Washington Office of Admissions, First-Year Waitlist, UW Finance, 2026-27 Tuition and Fees.

About Oriel Admissions

Oriel Admissions is a college admissions consulting firm advising families nationwide on elite university admissions strategy, with offices in Princeton, New Jersey and New York. Our team pairs deep admissions expertise with a distinctive 360 approach spanning academic planning, extracurricular strategy, essays and application execution. To discuss your strategy, schedule a consultation.