Gaining Admission to Lycoming College: Acceptance Rate and Requirements
Founded in 1812, Lycoming College stands as one of the nation's 50 oldest private liberal arts and sciences institutions. Building on that tradition, its cutting-edge programs, experiential learning, and faculty mentors enable students to think deeply and act boldly. Lycoming College, a small, private institution located in Williamsport, PA, offers undergraduate degrees in 40 majors. Lycoming College takes a holistic approach to evaluating your application-your talents, interests, and career goals are just as important as your academic record. Your application should show us who you are-as a student and a person.
Acceptance Rate: A Look at Selectivity
If you want to get in, the first thing to look at is the acceptance rate. The acceptance rate at Lycoming College is 74.1%. Because this school is lightly selective, you have a great shot at getting in, as long as you don't fall well below average.
Holistic Admission Approach
Lycoming College takes a holistic approach to evaluating applications. Your talents, interests, and career goals are just as important as your academic record. The college seeks to understand who you are as a student and as a person. Recommendation are considered very important for admissions officials at Lycoming College.
Application Deadlines
Early Decision (binding): Nov. 15 (Notified by Dec.Early Action: Dec. 1 (Notified by Dec.Regular Decision: Starts December 16 (Notifications begin Jan.
Academic Requirements and Considerations
GPA is an important academic factor. The school will have their expected requirements for GPA. You'll need a mix of A's and B's, and very few C's. If you have a lower GPA, you can compensate with harder courses like AP or IB classes. If you're currently a junior or senior, your GPA is hard to change in time for college applications. If your GPA is at or below the school average of 3.44, you'll need a higher SAT or ACT score to compensate.
Read also: Applying to Montgomery College
Standardized Testing Policies
Each school has different requirements for standardized testing. Lycoming College has indicated that the SAT or ACT is required for some applicants. If you're applying to this and other schools, it's safest to take the SAT or ACT. Many schools say they have no SAT score cutoff, but the truth is that there is a hidden SAT requirement.
SAT/ACT scores are considered but not required to apply.
SAT Score Ranges
The 25th percentile SAT score is 1088, and the 75th percentile SAT score is 1270. Aim for a 1088 SAT or higher, and you'll almost certainly get an offer of admission.
ACT Score Ranges
The average ACT score at Lycoming College is 25. The 25th percentile ACT score is 23, and the 75th percentile ACT score is 30. To try to aim for the school's ACT requirement of 23 and above, you should try to take the ACT as many times as you can.
Test Optional Policies
Lycoming College considers the SAT Essay/ACT Writing section optional and may not include it as part of their admissions consideration.
Read also: Applying to Westmont College
A Vibrant Campus Life and Opportunities
With 85% of students living on campus, Lycoming is an active, diverse community where students can uncover the best version of themselves. The College has increasingly enrolled a more global and ethnically diverse student body, with students hailing from 29 states and territories and more than 14 countries. Thirty-six percent of students at Lycoming are domestic students of color or international and there are several on-campus organizations supporting and strengthening that cross-cultural exchange. One-third of students participate in the 19 NCAA Division III intercollegiate sports teams on campus. Lycoming also has more than 60 student-run clubs and organizations, plentiful opportunities for service, and affinity housing communities. A hallmark of Lycoming's student life is its Outdoor Leadership & Education (OLE) program. Open to any student, OLE designs adventures that develop leadership skills, perseverance, and independence. OLE hosts around 100 events every year, from climbing the campus rock wall and day trips to hike or bike nearby trails to larger scale spring break excursions to the Grand Canyon, Shenandoah National Park, and the Bahamas. Students can even train to become a paid OLE instructor.
Experiential Learning
Lycoming College encourages students to incorporate real-world experiences into their liberal arts education. It does so by offering many experiential learning opportunities and outside-the-classroom activities, which help students “better understand and apply class material” and “make and build community relationships.” For an art history class, this meant that “after learning about Ancient Japanese ceramics, we were able to go to the ceramic studio and make pots and bowls with terra cotta to understand the different tools and difficulty of the craft.” Other real-world opportunities mentioned include criminal justice students touring the local corrections facility and visiting the courthouse, aspiring teachers assisting in nearby schools, and archeology students visiting museums. Students also appreciate the “colloquiums that bring guest speakers in, study abroad opportunities, research opportunities, and internships” that enhance their coursework. Of the many things students appreciate about the school, the faculty gets top marks. “They make an effort to get to know students outside the classroom and ensure that students are able to keep up with the material.” As one undergrad shares, “The greatest thing about Lycoming is that if you start to slip, like failing your classes, then they help you…so that you don’t slip through the cracks.
Campus and Location Advantages
The College is just a five-minute walk from downtown Williamsport, making it an easy foot or bike-commute to a thriving business and shopping area with many dining options. Williamsport is the site of world-class healthcare system UPMC, modern manufacturing, federal offices and county seat, energy and natural gas resources, and the Little League World Series. Situated in the heart of Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River Valley, students can take advantage of natural surroundings through the College's Outdoor Leadership and Education program to learn leadership skills outside of the classroom through skiing, hiking, rock-climbing, kayaking and other outdoor activities, as well as instructor training.
Facilities and Investments
In recognition of its rich history of music, both as an academic major/minor and beloved co-curricular activity for more than 200 students every year, Lycoming College constructed the 14,000-square-foot Trachte Music Center in 2022. The new facility houses a signature rehearsal and recital space, classrooms, soundproof practice rooms, and offices for music faculty. In 2019, the College completed construction of its $12.5 million Krapf Gateway Center, home to the Office of Admissions, Office of Alumni and Advancement, the Center for Enhanced Academic Experiences, and the Outdoor Leadership & Education program. The 28,000-square-foot building includes study and seminar rooms, a large presentation space, a café, a three-story rock-climbing wall, and an outdoor firepit. The College also recently renovated its Heim Science Building, updating all laboratories and adding a biochemistry suite, as well as its main academic center classrooms and study lounges. In 2015, Lycoming College built the $7.9 million Lynn Science Center, which continues to provide a state-of-the-art space for astronomy, astrophysics, and physics students with a planetarium, classrooms, research and teaching labs, computer labs, faculty offices, student lounges, and an atrium. Dedicated to providing learning experiences outside the traditional classroom, the College has also invested in a variety of off-campus facilities. A 120-acre Biology Field Station provides a site for students to study aquatic biology, ecology, plant science, vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, and environmental biology, as well as complete internships through the College's Clean Water Institute. The field station also serves as a local archaeological dig site and field school. A professional downtown art gallery, managed by the art department, enables students to work with faculty and visiting artists to curate local and national juried exhibitions, including an annual exhibition of graduating senior art students. Sizeable, private art studios above the gallery are assigned to senior art students and are accessible 24/7. Lycoming College has also expanded access to the Community Arts Center in downtown Williamsport, where musicians and vocal artists perform and collaborate with community ensembles like the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra.
Located within four hours of five major cities (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York City, Baltimore, Washington, D.C.), Lycoming often takes learning far beyond the classroom. And it doesn't stop there. With the College's emphasis on enhanced academic experiences, students frequently obtain competitive internships and research experiences both within the Williamsport area and on a national or global level. Lycoming's Williamsport Internship Summer Experience (WISE) program is one such opportunity; this ten-week preparatory program connects around 20 students with a summer internship in the local Williamsport area, while also providing a $3,000 stipend, free campus housing, and weekly professional development seminars. The College's Clean Water Institute (CWI) also provides a ten-week summer internship opportunity to more than a dozen students interested in studying anything from water quality and wetland assessment to the eastern hellbender (our state amphibian)! Lycoming empowers students to become global citizens with cross-cultural competency. Through our Center for Enhanced Academic Experiences, students can also study abroad in more than 100 locations.
Read also: Strategies for BC Early Decision 2
Accessibility
The closest airport is the Williamsport Regional Airport about 5 miles from campus. The bus station is less than 1 mile from campus. The train in Harrisburg is 90 miles from campus. Williamsport offers a range of hotels for visitors to campus.
Financial Aid and Value
Both the Princeton Review and Money Magazine list Lycoming College as one of the "Best Value Colleges" in the nation. Lycoming students reap the rewards of the College's sound and strategic fiscal management plan and one of the highest per student endowments in the country at $190M. Lycoming College is able to award more than $34M in financial aid annually, helping to bridge the gap between family resources and educational costs as well as recognize academic accomplishments. About 85 percent of students receive need-based financial aid, and all accepted first-year applicants are automatically considered for merit scholarships as generous as $34,000 per year.
Career Services
Many colleges now offer career services, but three things set Lycoming College apart: clarity, specificity, and incorporation. Students say that the Center for Enhanced Academic Experiences makes everything “seem less complicated,” and there’s a lot of value in I AM LAUNCHING, a proprietary software that matches students to millions of employers, including “90% of the Fortune 100.” The school also blends career exploration directly into coursework (and the first-year orientation).
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