Admission | Earlham College

Our Graduate Programs

Earlham is selective, with six applicants for every seat in the first-year class. We seek students who are academically prepared, intellectually curious and who possess a variety of special talents and interests. We also look for students who are comfortable in their own skin and embrace differences.

Student-Faculty Research

If it is apparent and obvious that you are interested in learning, Earlham professors will open a road for you. My recommendation to incoming students is to say ‘yes’ to every opportunity that comes your way.
Kevin Schmidt ’12 Biology and Chemistry major; Medical Student, University of Michigan; Chicago, IL

Our students do real research. This is excellent practice for those who might want to pursue a Fulbright Grant or Watson Fellowship later.
Jennifer Seely, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Politics

I had more responsibility during my second summer in the lab. I was able to teach the other students and answer their questions. [The professor] let me answer questions and problem solve a little more.
Ashley Chabot ’13
Bright Futures

I feel confident that Earlham will help me get into medical school. For me, a medical career makes sense: I can help people by using my interest in science. It’s the perfect match.
Sydney McBride ’15 Biochemistry major; Indianapolis, IN

Earlham gave me the tools to think about problems in their greater context. I’m so glad I took classes outside of my major. It made me a more well-rounded and interesting person. I can talk about things other than science.
Shane Hogle ’10 Chemistry major; Doctoral student and National Science Foundation Fellow at Scripps Oceanographic Institute, San Diego; Syracuse, IN

I work as a lab tech at Michigan Medical Genetics Labs. It’s a way cooler job than I ever thought I’d be able to get straight out of school, and I was hired because I was the only applicant in a large pool who could say they’d had hands-on experience with the instrumentation we use in the lab. And that’s all thanks to the Earlham chemistry department.
Kerry Flanagan ’12 Chemistry major; Ann Arbor, MI

Because Earlham is small and because the faculty and staff encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning, you have a lot of opportunities that you might not have at other schools. I was able to participate in two Ford/Knight student-faculty research projects, sing in choir and act in plays. If you’re willing to work for it, almost anything can happen.
Maya Wright ’04 Art major; Denver, CO
Campus Culture

I was given the opportunity to explore my passion, discover my interests, and develop them. That’s what Earlham, in my view, is all about.
Robert Awkward ’14 Human Development and Social Relations major; Boston, MA

You know you’re not going to a typical college when you count professors among those you’re closest to. The respect professors give to their students is unparalleled by any other college. Here the relationships you build with your professors truly can ascend beyond simply teacher-and-student and even beyond colleague-and-colleague to the point where you really are friend-and-friend.
David Schutt ’14 Politics major; Hamilton, NY

The easiest, least valuable, and most common form of respect is tolerance: a practiced indifference built on the understanding that other people are free to do as they will. Of greater value is an engaged respect, practiced through relationships that continually discover the meanings of experience. That’s what we aspire to at Earlham.
Nate Eastman, Ph.D. Associate Professor of English

So many people made Earlham feel like home.
Natalie Shelling ’13 Math Education major; Doctoral Student in Educational Psychology, Ball State University; Shaker Heights, OH

Try to get involved as much as possible. There are a lot of cool groups, activities, and clubs. Talking to recent alumni, almost all of the time it’s the extracurriculars that guided their career paths; you can learn a heck of a lot being on cross country, like I was, or in Dance Alloy. You’re going to meet people, and have something exciting that’s not just your school work.
Adam Putnam ’07 Psychology major; Doctoral Student and National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow, Washington University in St. Louis; East Lansing, MI

Athletics

They recruited me for football, but I chose Earlham for science. I get plenty of time on the field with my team and in the lab with my adviser. It’s the perfect balance.
Nathan Wallace ’14 Biochemistry major; Noblesville, IN

I loved my time at Earlham. For me, it’s the ideal combination of great academics and an opportunity to play soccer. And with geology, you get to travel the world and get your hands dirty. It’s perfect for me.
Ikumi Doucette ’13 Geology major; Berwyn Heights, MD
Global Perspective

My experience of interning with the World Organization Against Torture in Switzerland during the summer of 2018 was super-empowering. I met amazing change-makers from all around the world, and grew a greater awareness to the amount of injustice, inhumanity and hatred there is in the world.
Caitlin Corrigan-Orosco ’19 Human Rights Studies individually designed major; Patchogue, N.Y.

At Earlham, I feel like I’m starting to really matter in the world, starting to make a difference beyond myself, and starting to really understand how each individual impacts the connections worldwide.
Claire Welsh ’16 Biochemistry major; Ann Arbor, MI

Earlham gave me a chance not only to explore myself, but what it means to be a part of a global community.
Chance Milligan ’13 Human Development and Social Relations major; Portland, IN
College Choice

I was accepted to several other private liberal arts colleges in the Midwest including Beloit, Grinnell and Knox. I chose Earlham mainly for the tight-knit community I sensed when I visited. I felt that Earlham could surround me with people that I would want to get to know. I wanted a liberal arts education because I wanted to have the ability to take classes that interested me, not just classes that I was supposed to take. I also really appreciate Earlham’s cultural, ethnic, socio-economic and religious diversity.
Ingrid Kocher ’16 Art major; St. Louis, MO

I was accepted at several good schools, including Smith College and Goucher College. I searched for a community that would foster a variety of academic experiences, but also attract students whose passions spilled outside of the classroom. Earlham is able to foster that kind of academic environment it does because students understand the value of their peers and in turn the value of their community, inside the classroom and out.
Sara Lepkoff ’14 Human Development and Social Relations major; Marlboro, VT