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SMU acceptance rate

Southern Methodist University · Dallas, Texas · Private nonprofit · 7,277 undergraduates

63.3%
accepted, fall 2024
15,245
applications
9,657
offers of admission
1,716
enrolled (18% of those admitted)

SMU expanded its offers faster than its applicant pool grew, so the rate climbed 11 points between 2014 and 2024, to 63%. Most four-year colleges are easier to get into: 1,146 of the 1,579 that report a rate admit a larger share. American University is the hardest to get into among the six schools closest to SMU in size and selectivity (62%); Elon University is the easiest (66%).

Acceptance rate since 2001

0%20%40%60%80%2001200320052007200920112013201520172019202120242001 75%2002 66%2003 65%2004 64%2005 58%2006 54%2007 50%2008 50%2009 53%2010 54%2011 55%2012 54%2013 51%2014 52%2015 49%2016 49%2017 49%2018 51%2019 47%2020 53%2021 53%2022 52%2023 61%2024 63%
Share of first-time, first-year applicants offered admission, by fall term.
Show the numbers by year
FallAppliedAdmittedRateEnrolled
202415,2459,65763.3%1,716
202315,0929,24061.2%1,592
202216,1508,43952.3%1,639
202115,6858,33353.1%1,572
202014,0107,37952.7%1,531
201913,9596,60147.3%1,544
201812,6036,45751.2%1,530
201713,1286,40248.8%1,423
201613,2506,48248.9%1,522
201512,9926,36049.0%1,374
201411,8176,19252.4%1,459
201312,0806,12550.7%1,431
201211,2176,03153.8%1,426
201110,3385,64154.6%1,382
20109,0964,89953.9%1,479
20098,4424,47153.0%1,329
20088,2704,11349.7%1,398
20078,2534,13450.1%1,309
20067,6484,10653.7%1,371
20056,9794,07758.4%1,402
20046,4344,13664.3%1,313
20036,2964,07464.7%1,383
20026,1514,06966.2%1,380
20015,3223,98474.9%1,353

Applications and offers

05k10k15k20k20012004200720102013201620192024AppliedAdmitted2001 Applied: 5k Admitted: 4k2002 Applied: 6k Admitted: 4k2003 Applied: 6k Admitted: 4k2004 Applied: 6k Admitted: 4k2005 Applied: 7k Admitted: 4k2006 Applied: 8k Admitted: 4k2007 Applied: 8k Admitted: 4k2008 Applied: 8k Admitted: 4k2009 Applied: 8k Admitted: 4k2010 Applied: 9k Admitted: 5k2011 Applied: 10k Admitted: 6k2012 Applied: 11k Admitted: 6k2013 Applied: 12k Admitted: 6k2014 Applied: 12k Admitted: 6k2015 Applied: 13k Admitted: 6k2016 Applied: 13k Admitted: 6k2017 Applied: 13k Admitted: 6k2018 Applied: 13k Admitted: 6k2019 Applied: 14k Admitted: 7k2020 Applied: 14k Admitted: 7k2021 Applied: 16k Admitted: 8k2022 Applied: 16k Admitted: 8k2023 Applied: 15k Admitted: 9k2024 Applied: 15k Admitted: 10k
First-year applications received and offers made, by fall term.

Acceptance rate for women and men

Fall 2024AppliedAdmittedRate
Women8,1145,27365.0%
Men7,1314,38461.5%

SAT, ACT and test policy

Test scores in admission
Considered if submitted (test-optional)
SAT reading and writing
670 to 740 (middle 50% of enrolled students)
SAT math
670 to 750
ACT composite
30 to 34

Colleges similar to SMU

The six private nonprofit four-year colleges closest to SMU in acceptance rate and undergraduate enrollment.

CollegeAcceptance rateUndergraduatesAvg net priceEarnings after 10 yrs
American University
Washington, DC		62%7,266$41,302$85,458
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach, FL		65%7,860$40,539$92,069
Sacred Heart University
Fairfield, CT		65%7,087$45,827$80,896
Elon University
Elon, NC		66%6,452$35,785$82,524
Chapman
Orange, CA		65%7,478$46,708$80,694
The New School
New York, NY		63%6,563$48,163$64,471

Admissions counts are first-time, first-year applicants reported by SMU to IPEDS for each fall term (2001 to 2024), read from the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. Test score ranges and policy come from the College Scorecard. College Scorecard data updated November 2, 2026. How these figures are built · SMU on College Scorecard