Olin College

Part 1 – The Application for Admission

Olin College is now a member of the Common Application. We require all applicants to complete their application online, through the Common Application. The Olin Supplement is required, along with the application fee, in order to submit your application. There is no Early Action or Early Decision.

1. Applications to Olin College must be electronically submitted through the Common Application site no later than January 1, 2012.


2. Please submit your application online, unless extenuating circumstances prevail. If you are unable to complete the application electronically, please contact the Office of Admission.


3. As you complete the online portion of the application, you may save your work and return to it as often as you like. Please note that the Office of Admission will not receive your application until you have completed the Common Application, the Olin Supplement AND submitted your $80 application fee. After submitting your application, you may not make any changes. Please contact the Office of Admission if you need to change your postal address, email address or phone number.


4. Download and print the Secondary School Report and two teacher recommendation forms and distribute them to the appropriate people. We prefer that one of the teacher recommendations comes from a math or science teacher. We also prefer that recommendations are submitted electronically through the Common Application system, though we realize that not all teachers are comfortable with this format. It is your responsibility to ensure that all of the completed forms, your official high school transcript, your current senior grades and a high school profile are submitted to Olin before the deadline. Our address is:
   Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

   Office of Admission

   Olin Way

   Needham, Massachusetts 02492-1200

   781-292-2210 (fax)
   NOTE: These documents must be postmarked no later than January 1, 2012.



5. All applicants, both native and non-native English speakers, are required to submit the results of the SAT Reasoning Test or ACT with Writing and two SAT Subject Test scores - Math (level 1 or 2) and a science subject of your choice. Applicants who live in countries where the SAT and ACT are not offered will be considered without a full set of required test scores on a case-by-case basis.

   The TOEFL is not required for non-native English speakers, although those scores can be helpful when reviewing the applications of non-native English speakers.We do not have minimum score requirements, but most of our strong applicants score above 260 on the computer-based test.

   You must report your scores directly from the testing agency; scores that appear on your school transcript will not be considered official.  Our SAT code is 2824, the ACT code is 1883 and our TOEFL code is 9008.

   
   NOTE: We request that all testing be completed prior to December 1, but will accept scores from the December SAT or ACT date if necessary.



6. The nonrefundable application fee is $80 for US citizens and permanent residents or $100 for non-US citizens. You may pay the fee by credit card through your online Common Application account.  If you are unable to use a credit card, send a check or money order for $80/$100 payable to Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering and be sure to write your full name and date of birth on the face of the check or money order. If the application fee is a financial hardship, please consult your guidance counselor for a fee waiver.


7. We will read all completed applications by the end of January. Therefore, it is critical that we receive an indication of your academic performance during your senior year sent to the Office of Admission by January 1, 2012. We realize that this deadline falls before you receive your first semester grades, so please be sure to discuss this with your counselor and arrange for him/her to send us some official school document reflecting your senior grades thus far. Report cards, progress reports or a simple document with your guidance counselor's signature will suffice.


8. Should you have questions or need help, contact us at apply@olin.edu. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Part 2 – Candidates' Weekends

The application review process will conclude by late January. Approximately 210 top applicants will be selected as “Candidates” and then invited to campus to participate in one of our three Candidates’ Weekends in February and early March. Each weekend includes a design project, individual interviews and team exercises as well as many opportunities to learn more about Olin College and our tight-knit community (check out the 2011 CW Schedule to get a better sense of what happens on those two weekends). It is from this group of students that we will select our incoming class.

Keep this in mind: Candidates' Weekends are FUN! While there is an important evaluative component to the Weekends, at this point in our process, we are not particularly concerned with academics - in our opinion, students who have been selected as Candidates are academically ready for the challenges at Olin... now it's about whether or not we're a good "fit" for each other.

Given that attendance at a Candidates' Weekend is necessary for admission to Olin, it is only fair that we help subsidize the visit - we offer all Candidates a travel subsidy based on their distance from Olin. While the subsidies do not cover all travel expenses related to attending Candidates' Weekend, we do think it's important to help defray some of the cost.