Application Process

• The Admission Committee will review completed applications thoroughly, and will consider academic achievement, difficulty of curriculum, standardized test scores, personal statement/essay, letters of recommendation and extracurricular involvements.
• All candidates for admission are expected to be graduates of an accredited high school or preparatory school and have at least 15 academic credits in the following areas: English, mathematics, science, social science and foreign language.
• First-year students are those who do not enroll in any college-level course work after graduating from high school. Students who have taken college-level course work on a part-time or full-time basis after graduating from high school should apply as a transfer student.
• During the admission selection process, the contents of applicant files are held in the strictest confidence. The information that candidates provide will be used only for admission purposes. Secondary school counselor recommendation forms do not become part of the student’s official file upon matriculation at Albion College.

Early Action

• Students who wish to receive an admission decision early and be considered for base-level academic scholarship awards in the initial round of consideration should apply to the College by December 1st of their senior year in high school. Notification of an admission decision and any base-level academic scholarship eligibility will be communicated prior to January 1st. Students do not have to make a final commitment to Albion until May 1, when the $300 enrollment deposit is required to reserve a place in the class.

Rolling Admission

• Applications received after December 1st will be reviewed on a rolling basis beginning no later than February 1st. All students are encouraged to submit their application for admission prior to March 1st, as students who apply after this date will be considered for admission on a space-available basis.
• After acceptance, the $300 enrollment deposit should be submitted to Albion on or before May 1st to reserve a place in the entering class. Enrollment deposits submitted before May 1st will be refunded if our office receives a written request by May 1st notifying us of the decision not to enroll.

Personal Statement/Essay

• Essays are used to evaluate each candidate’s ability to express ideas in a clear, organized manner. Additionally, essays provide balance and consistency in application content, allowing for comparison among applicants, and may serve as insight into an applicant’s gifts or talents not evident in the other information available.

Professional Institutes

• Students interested in a first-rate liberal arts curriculum coupled with innovative professional education are encouraged to explore Albion’s Institutes in environmental science, public policy and service, professional management, pre-medical and health care studies, honors, and education. The Institutes offer world-class internships and study abroad opportunities, and may include a research project and/or independent study. A multimillion-dollar endowment supports each program, including academic scholarships for top applicants. Accordingly, admission into each program is highly competitive, and students are encouraged to inquire early about and interview for one or more Institutes and related scholarships.

Residence Policy

• Albion College expects all students, except married students or those residing with their parents, to live and board within the College residence system.

First-year Students Checklist

• Completed Application
• Personal Statement/Essay
• Official High School Transcript
• ACT or SAT score(s) (if not on your transcript)
• Secondary School/Counselor's Recommendation Form

Transfer Students Checklist

• Completed Application
• Official College Transcript (from each institution you have attended)
• Official High School Transcript
• ACT or SAT score(s)

Application Instructions

1. Establish your account.

• Enter your account information exactly as instructed on the form.
• Click the 'Create My Account' button.
• Print the "New Account" page or write down your user name and password for furture reference when re-entering the system.

2. Fill out your application.

• You can complete your application in any order and save your work and come back to it later - even from a different computer!
• Use the 'Go to page: 1, 2, 3, 4' links to move to another page.
• Before leaving a page, always click the 'Save this page' button, to save what you've done so far, .
• To reaccess your application to continue work on it, return to the application menu, select the application, and enter your user name and password when prompted.

3. Make corrections to your data.

• If you omit a required field or enter data incorrectly, a red asterisk will appear after the field.
• If you have incorrect data entered when you click 'Save this page', an error list will display at the bottom of the page with the field and what needs to be corrected. Make the corrections and click 'Save this page' again.

4. Send your application.

• Check your application carefully. When you are satisfied with it, go to Page 4. Select 'Yes' under Certification and click 'Send to Admissions'. This will notify the Admissions Office that your application is complete and ready for review.
• After you have certified and sent the application, you will not be able to change it on line. You can still view the completed application, but you will need to contact the Admissions Office (800-858-6770) if you need to change or add information.

5. Print Secondary School/Counselor Recommendation Form.

• For first-year student only, from the "Online Application Menu" page or here, open the Secondary School/Counselor Recommendation Form(pdf). This form must be completed and sent to Albion by your high school guidance counselor.

Hints for Filling Out Your Application

• Always save your changes before leaving a page. If you do not save a page, the data entered on that page will be lost when you exit the web site.
• Required fields are marked with a blue asterisk. [*]
• Use standard capitalization for proper names, including high schools and colleges, and addresses. For example: John Doe, not john doe or JOHN DOE.
• Separate digits in telephone numbers and dates with dashes only, no slashes or parentheses. If a field requires a special format, a template of the format is provided next to the field. For example: Social Security Number (xxx-xx-xxxx)
• Check your application over carefully before sending it!
• There are usually other requirements for admission such as having transcripts, test scores, and/or letters of recommendation sent to the school. Be sure to fulfill these requirements in addition to submitting your application.
• If the text is too large or too small to read easily, change the text size setting in your browser. For Internet Explorer, select View -> Text Size -> Medium.
• If you get an error when you click on the "Secondary school/counselor's recommendation form" link, right-click the link and select Save Target As in Internet Explorer or Save Link As in Mozilla FireFox.
• Users of the AOL web browser software may experience difficulties completing the Online Admissions Application. Internet Explorer version 4.0 or higher is recommended. Email websupport@albion.edu  for additional information or instructions.

Web Application Features

• The web application server stores the information you enter under the private user name and password you establish.
• Nothing you enter on the application form is sent to the Admissions Office until you transmit it. That means you can set up your account, fill out information on the application form, change it, and save it free of charge and without worry of disclosing information to the college before you are ready.
• You don't have to complete the application in one sitting. For example, you can start working on an application at your library's web terminal, save your work, recall it from your web terminal at home, and continue working from there. Wherever you have access to the Web, you have access to the information you've saved.
• Your data is transmitted securely over the Internet. The information you enter is encrypted and secure when you save it and when you send it. Although general data collected on the system may be used in statistical studies and reports designed to assist the institution with planning, any information bearing your personal identification is only disclosed to the department you send it to.