Information for Counselors

You’ll be able to indicate your preferred date and build your schedule to include an information session, campus tour and individual meeting with an admissions counselor. We host three visits Monday through Friday, and some Saturdays during the academic year. Learn more about our daily visit schedule and days with reduced availability on our Campus Visit Portal.

If you’re visiting Willamette for the first time, we’ll cover the cost of your stay at The Grand Hotel in downtown Salem. To make a reservation, contact The Grand and let them know you are visiting Willamette University. When you check-in for your campus visit, ask about reimbursement.

The Office of Admission welcomes group visit requests from high schools, community-based organizations (CBOs), community colleges, and other cohorts of college-going students in ninth grade and older. Learn more about your group visit program and submit your request.

Throughout the year, we offer virtual programming for counselors featuring Willamette faculty speaking to unique and popular academic programs. Learn more and register for our upcoming events.

• We counsel prospective students in our information sessions, interviews, and essay-writing workshops that the essay is another way we assess academic preparation. We advise students to present their best work and strongly recommend that they write an original essay for their college application. We encourage students to seek outside help for proofreading basic errors or for guidance on content and structure, but caution them against having their essay over-edited or written by someone else. While Willamette understands the use of AI programs, such as ChatGPT, as tools that can be helpful in the writing process, an applicant should not submit an essay in which any portion of the writing has been generated by anyone except the individual applicant. Use of AI to organize an outline or basic list of ideas at the preliminary stage of the writing process is acceptable; use of anyone's wording, thoughts, grammar, or written work in essay form - AI or human - other than that of the applicant is strongly discouraged. Applicants who have clearly used AI to write their essay will be asked to submit an additional essay that is their own original work, which may result in a delayed or deferred admissions decision.
• While many colleges and universities are implementing AI tools to make transcript and application review more efficient, Willamette does not use AI in our application review. We are humans assessing fit and preparation for Willamette on a nuanced and personalized level.
• As computing and big data reshape society, Willamette University is at the forefront of creating an equitable and ethics-aware workforce equipped to use and evolve with technology. We invite you to learn more about how our students and alumni are engaging with AI through data and computer science, and encourage you to keep an eye out for our new AI-centered academic programs coming soon!

Students interested in both PNCA and Willamette College are not allowed to complete applications to both colleges. We strongly encourage interested students to explore what each program offers and seek guidance from their admissions counselor to determine their fit. Once enrolled, taking classes on both campuses or making a program change is allowed.

Students who need to strengthen their academic preparation or intend to begin their college journey at one of our partner community colleges should consider participating in the Bearcat Pathway Program - a comprehensive transfer pathway program that provides a clear roadmap for their two years at community college, wrap-around advising, and opportunities for pre-transfer engagement with our campus. Participants are offered a guarantee that they will complete their degree at Willamette within two years of transferring, along with a generous Bearcat Partnership Grant. 

• Students admitted to Willamette College may request a one-year deferral of enrollment to pursue opportunities that will further enrich their preparation for college. Rare exceptions are made for students who wish to defer for two years. Deferrals are typically approved for opportunities such as travel, service, personal study, or other pursuits. 
• Willamette does not partner with any gap-year associations.

Like most colleges and universities, Willamette tracks prospective student engagement through a variety of means, including our application management and communication database. Demonstrated interest is only considered a small factor in the admissions decision when an applicant falls within the margin of admissibility.

• While we do allow early graduates to apply for admission, we discourage graduating early simply because graduation requirements are met, as we find students are rarely academically and socially prepared for the rigorous environment they will find here.
• We strongly recommend that students complete the following pattern of recommended coursework over a period of four years in high school:
  • Four years of English
  • Four years of mathematics (including two years beyond algebra 2)
  • Four years of social science
  • Three to four years of lab-based science
  • Three to four years of a second language
• We find that students who are seeking admission to Willamette as early high school graduates are often disadvantaged in the scholarship-awarding process because they have one year less of academic preparation and rigor on their transcripts and do not encounter significant coursework rigor until their junior year. Therefore, if an early graduate is intent on applying for admission, we strongly recommend that they apply Regular Decision with their updated mid-year transcript.

• In order to confirm enrollment, Willamette requires a non-refundable $500 deposit. This is a down payment for direct costs of the student’s first semester.
• The enrollment deposit is deferred for students who participate in Access to Excellence, receive tuition exchange or tuition remission, or who receive outside scholarships that will cover fees up to the cost of attendance.
• Students who are unable to pay the enrollment deposit in full should contact their admissions counselor for alternative options. It is rare that the deposit is waived or deferred for students who do not meet the above criteria.

• Homeschooled students are expected to provide all of the required application materials. 
• Homeschooled students are not required to submit SAT or ACT scores, but may do so if they so choose.
• The parent (or adult directing the student’s education) is responsible for assembling the official transcript and completing the counselor recommendation and school report forms.
• Homeschooled students are strongly encouraged to arrange an admissions interview.

• Willamette is a residential college with 99% of first-year students living on campus in the residence halls. We require enrolled students to live on campus for their first and second years, and assure students that they will have on-campus housing during that time.
• Juniors and seniors may request to live off campus.
• First-year students who reside with their parent or legal guardian within 25 miles of campus may submit a request to live at home. More information about housing exemptions is available on the housing & residence life website.

Schools that do not use a traditional letter or numeric grading system to evaluate academic work on a transcript are asked to submit a school profile in addition to the School Report Form. Applications will be reviewed holistically in the context of the information provided through the narrative transcript, School Report Form, and school profile.

Willamette University offers pre-college programs at Willamette College in Salem and at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland.

• For students admitted as first-year students, no more than 32 semester hours (the equivalent of 48 quarter hours) will be awarded for courses taken prior to matriculation. This includes college, AP, IB, and concurrent (or dual) enrollment credits.
• In most cases, college credits earned prior to secondary school graduation, including those earned in concurrent (or dual) enrollment programs, will receive full transfer credit.
• An updated list of our AP and IB Credit-Granting Policies is available on our Registrar’s website.

• Students must indicate whether they wish to have their scores considered in the supplemental question section of their application.
• Students who indicate that they wish to have their scores considered in the admissions process may submit unofficial scores for admissions purposes, but will be expected to submit verified scores after enrollment.
• We will use the strongest subscores across multiple test dates of the SAT or the ACT to calculate a superscore for the applicant.
• Willamette only reports on officially submitted test scores, as indicated by the student’s testing preference.