1. The Admissions Committee first considers the rigor of your high school course selection (enriched, honors, AP, IB, etc.) through senior year. The number of academic courses you have taken is also important.

2. More important to the Admissions Committee than a cumulative grade point average are the individual grades you have earned in core academic courses (English, math, science, social studies, history, foreign language) in grades 9 through 12 and your trend in grades.

3. Unless they are also taking college courses off campus, seniors need to complete at least four units during their senior year, but are strongly urged to complete at least five. Students taking fewer than five academic units generally face a very difficult transition to college.

The University expects all applicants to have completed strong college preparatory course work at an accredited secondary school or certified home school program, including at least 18 credits of post-eighth-grade course work in the academic subjects noted on the following chart.

The following criteria represent the minimum requirements to be considered for admission. The academic profiles of most candidates exceed the minimum requirements.

Subject -- English
Years Required -- 4
Years Recommended -- 4

Subject -- Mathematics
Years Required -- 3
Years Recommended -- 4

Subject -- Science
Years Required -- 3
(2 must include lab)
Years Recommended -- 4
(3 must include lab)

Subject -- History/Social Sciences
Years Required -- 4*
Years Recommended -- 4*

Subject -- Foreign Languages
Years Required -- 2† of same
Years Recommended -- 4 of same

Subject -- Academic Electives
Years Required -- 2 Units
Years Recommended -- 2

Total -- 18–22 units *

* at least two of the units must be history, and one of those must be world history. An additional year of math or science may be substituted for the 4th year of social science.

† Foreign language courses taken before the ninth grade do not count.

Please note that:

• Prospective majors in mathematics, engineering, business, computer science, and natural science should complete four years of mathematics, including trigonometry, pre-calculus, and/or calculus.

• Prospective majors in biology, chemistry, physics and all prospective majors in Engineering are expected to take at least one year each of biology, physics, and chemistry, and are strongly urged to take two years of chemistry.

• Prospective majors in nursing must have completed at least one year of both biology and chemistry, and are strongly urged to take two years of chemistry.

1. Essays are an important part of our application review and are required for all applicants. Transcripts, activities, and even awards may look similar from one applicant to another, but the essay can be that one defining element that sets an applicant apart.

2. At least one letter of recommendation from an academic source is required for all applicants. Most submit more than one letter.

3. While extracurricular and community involvement and recommendations are important, they cannot make up for weak grades and/or standardized test scores.

1. For admission consideration, the SAT Reasoning Test and/or ACT (with Writing) must be submitted. Test scores without a writing component will not be accepted. Two SAT Subject Tests of the student’s choosing are recommended, especially for Honors Program applicants.

2. We will combine the best individual scores from tests taken.

3. Weight given to the SAT or ACT depends on the strength of the student’s high school performance. Excellent grades in a challenging curriculum may compensate for somewhat weaker scores.

4.The SAT code for Delaware is 5811 and the ACT code is 0634.

As it evaluates an application, the Admissions Committee always reserves the right to consider personal conduct and ethical behavior as a factor in its decision.

1. Applicants may list an alternate major. Most students who are admissible to the University are admitted to their first-choice major. On rare occasions, students are considered for their second-choice major; therefore, applicants should only list a second-choice major in which there is an active interest.

2. Freshman applicants who are unsure about a major or want to explore our curricular offerings should apply to University Studies-Undeclared.