George Washington University Acceptance Rate: 47.1% Overall and 66.3% Early Decision

What Is the George Washington University Acceptance Rate?

The George Washington University acceptance rate for the fall 2025 entering class is 47.1 percent. GW reports 27,034 first-year applicants, 12,741 admitted students, and 2,405 enrolled first-years in section C1 of its Common Data Set 2025-2026, published by the Office of Institutional Research and Planning in April 2026. Women were 64.0 percent of applicants and were admitted at 47.1 percent (8,138 of 17,288); men were admitted at 47.2 percent (4,603 of 9,746), so gender made no difference to the rate. The enrolled class was 61.8 percent women, and 18.9 percent of admitted students enrolled.

The year before, GW admitted 12,718 of 27,006 applicants, also 47.1 percent, and enrolled 2,459 (Common Data Set 2024-2025). Applications moved by 28 students in a year and admits by 23, which is as flat as an admissions cycle gets. The stability matters because GW sits in a group of urban private universities, with Boston University, Northeastern, Fordham, and American among them, where the rates have moved sharply in both directions over the past five years. A family reading a 47 percent rate at GW can expect roughly that number again, which is not true of every school on the same list.

One caution about the headline. GW admits into its undergraduate schools, including the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, the Elliott School of International Affairs, the School of Business, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Milken Institute School of Public Health, and the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, and it does not publish rates by school. The seven-year B.A./B.S.-M.D. program, which requires test scores and an additional essay, and the University Honors Program are far more selective than 47 percent, and the Elliott School, GW’s signature program, draws the deepest pool. The Common Data Set figure is the average across all of them.

How Does the George Washington University Acceptance Rate Vary by Residency?

GW reports residency in section C1, and the pattern is the reverse of a public university’s. Domestic applicants from outside the District of Columbia were admitted at 49.2 percent (10,785 of 21,934) and made up 86.2 percent of the enrolled class. International applicants were admitted at 36.3 percent (1,380 of 3,804) and were 7.2 percent of the class. Applicants from the District itself were admitted at 32.0 percent (154 of 482), the lowest rate of the three, and enrolled 58 students (Common Data Set 2025-2026, C1). The District figure is small enough to move with a few dozen decisions, but it was 33.5 percent the year before (179 of 535), so the pattern holds.

For an international family the number to plan around is 36.3 percent, 13 points below the domestic rate, and the yield tells the rest of the story: only 173 of 1,380 admitted international students enrolled, about 12.5 percent, at a university that lists tuition of $72,000. International applicants who can document full funding and who apply Early Decision are the ones GW can count on, and the file should be built to make both of those facts obvious.

What SAT, ACT, and GPA Do George Washington University Students Have?

GW has been test-optional for most applicants since 2015 and says it will continue to be, with exceptions for homeschooled students, students from schools with narrative-only evaluations, and B.A./B.S.-M.D. applicants (GW first-year applicants). For fall 2025, 36.5 percent of enrolled students submitted an SAT score and 13.9 percent an ACT score (Common Data Set 2025-2026, C9). Among submitters, the SAT middle 50 percent was 1310 to 1450 with a median of 1390 (reading and writing 690 to 750, math 670 to 740), and the ACT middle 50 percent was 31 to 34 with a median of 32. Class rank was reported for only 20.8 percent of the class; of those, 44.1 percent were in the top tenth and 77.4 percent in the top quarter. GW does not report an average high school GPA in either its 2025-2026 or its 2024-2025 filing (the GPA section is left at zero in both), so any GPA figure quoted for GW comes from a third party rather than the university. For the fall 2024 class, SAT scores ran 1360 to 1470 and ACT scores 30 to 33 among submitters.

The fall 2025 SAT range is lower than the fall 2024 range at both ends, and the submission rate rose from 27 percent to 36.5 percent, which is the expected result when more students send scores: the pool of submitters broadens and the middle drops. The decision rule that follows is the same as at most test-optional peers. A student at or above the median, 1390 on the SAT or 32 on the ACT, should submit; a student below 1310 should not; a student in between should submit only if the score is stronger than the transcript. Because GW publishes no GPA figure, the transcript standard has to be inferred from the peer group: a 3.8 or higher unweighted GPA in a rigorous program is the profile that competes at a 47 percent university with these score ranges.

How Do George Washington University Early Decision and Regular Decision Compare?

GW offers two binding rounds and no Early Action. Early Decision I is due November 1 with decisions in late December, Early Decision II is due January 5 with decisions in late February, and Regular Decision is due January 5 with decisions in late March; the financial aid forms are due on the same dates as the application in each round (GW first-year applicants). The most recent Early Decision figures GW has reported are for fall 2024: 1,139 Early Decision applicants and 755 admits, a rate of 66.3 percent (Common Data Set 2024-2025, C21). The rest of that pool, 25,867 applicants outside Early Decision, produced 11,963 admits, an implied rate of 46.2 percent, so the Early Decision advantage was about 20 points. GW left the Early Decision counts blank in its 2025-2026 filing.

Twenty points is a large advantage, and it is the reason a family for whom GW is the clear first choice should use Early Decision I rather than wait. The 755 Early Decision admits were only 5.9 percent of all offers in fall 2024, so GW is not filling half its class early the way some peers do, and there is room for a strong Regular Decision applicant, but the binding rounds are where a borderline file gets the benefit of the doubt. Early Decision II on January 5 carries the same commitment and, in GW’s combined reporting, the same rate, which makes it the right move for a student released from a December decision elsewhere. Our guide to Early Decision acceptance rates compares the GW gap with schools where the advantage is larger and smaller.

How Does the George Washington University Waitlist Work?

GW uses its waitlist every year, and the size of the draw changes with the deposit season. For fall 2025, GW offered waitlist places to 6,084 applicants, 2,858 accepted, and 616 were admitted, 21.6 percent of those who stayed on (Common Data Set 2025-2026, C2). For fall 2024 the draw was almost twice as large: 6,517 offered, 2,844 accepted, and 1,188 admitted, 41.8 percent. Across the two years, waitlist admits were 4.8 percent and 9.3 percent of all offers, so the list is a real path rather than a courtesy.

A waitlisted student should accept the place, write once to confirm that GW is the first choice and that the student would enroll if admitted, and send the final semester grades. Because GW yields fewer than one in five admits, it draws on the list most years, and the students it picks are the ones whose interest it can verify.

What Does George Washington University Cost?

GW lists tuition of $72,000 and required fees of $420 for 2025-2026 in its most recent Common Data Set filing, and its 2024-2025 filing put housing and food at $17,600, so the cost of attendance before books and travel is close to $90,000 (Common Data Set 2025-2026, G1). The application fee is $80, with waivers available through the Common App and Coalition platforms. First-year retention was 90.7 percent for the most recent cohort. GW awards merit scholarships at admission, and the financial aid deadlines coincide with the application deadlines in every round, which means a family applying Early Decision needs the CSS Profile and FAFSA in by November 1.

For a family that will pay full price, the question is whether GW’s location and the Elliott School, the School of Business, or the political science and public health programs are worth a premium over a state flagship, and the answer usually depends on how specifically the student plans to use Washington. For a family that needs aid, the Early Decision decision has to wait for the net price calculator, because a 20-point admissions advantage is not worth a binding commitment to a $90,000 bill.

How Should Families Approach the George Washington University Application?

GW asks applicants to choose a school, and the application should be written for it. The Elliott School wants evidence of sustained interest in international affairs, languages, and policy, not a general statement about Washington; the School of Business wants quantitative preparation; the Corcoran School requires a portfolio of 12 to 20 pieces for B.F.A. applicants; and the B.A./B.S.-M.D. program requires test scores and an additional essay. The University Honors Program takes a separate essay as well. A student who names Elliott because it is the best-known school, without a record to support it, is competing in the deepest pool with the thinnest file.

• Grades first: GW publishes no average GPA, fewer than four in ten enrolled students sent a score, and the transcript is what the reader sees.
• Submit an SAT of 1390 or higher or an ACT of 32 or higher; below 1310, apply test-optional.
• Use Early Decision I if GW is the first choice and the aid estimate works; the reported advantage is about 20 points.
• International applicants face a 36.3 percent rate and should document funding at submission.
• Accept a waitlist offer: GW admitted 616 waitlisted students for fall 2025 and 1,188 the year before.

GW is a school where the average applicant has a coin-flip chance, the Early Decision applicant a two-in-three chance, and the international applicant about one in three, and where the choice of school within the university shapes the reading of every file. Our guides on whether you need an admissions consultant and when to bring one in explain how we help families build a list around schools like this one, and our college acceptance rates guide puts GW next to its peers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: George Washington University Common Data Set 2025-2026 (April 2026), George Washington University Common Data Set 2024-2025, GW Office of Institutional Research and Planning, Common Data Set index, GW Office of Undergraduate Admissions, first-year applicants

About Oriel Admissions

Oriel Admissions is a Princeton-based college admissions consulting firm advising families nationwide on elite university admissions strategy. Our team brings deep expertise across every dimension of the application, and our distinctive 360 approach develops strategy, positioning, activities, essays, and interviews as one coherent whole. To discuss your family’s admissions strategy, schedule a consultation.