Regardless of what college you want to get into, there is always an admissions process. If you want to go to Merrimack College, you are likely already aware of this. The college weighs your academic accomplishments and decides if you are worthy enough to become a new student on campus.
But is Merrimack College hard to get into? What is its acceptance rate, and what will an applicant need to get in?
Is Merrimack College Hard to Get Into?
Is Merrimack College Hard to Get Into?If you’ve never heard of Merrimack College, you obviously do not live in Massachusetts. Merrimack is a mainstay of North Andover, Massachusetts. It is a private college created largely as a school for returning World War II veterans. Eventually, it became a much bigger college, receiving millions in funding to educate a growing populace. Merrimack is, as of 2020, home to 5,000 students between undergraduate and postgraduate enrollment, and some of its most notable alumni include Charlie Day of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fame. But its status as a private college raises only one question: is Merrimack College hard to get into?
The answer may surprise you, but Merrimack is quite easy to get into, all things considered. Its status as a private college in Massachusetts does nothing to negatively impact a given student’s chance at becoming a student at Merrimack College.
But why is this the case? What do one’s chances look like statistically? Merrimack isn’t exactly a cheap college.
What is the Merrimack College’s Acceptance Rate?
If we really want to know how hard it is to get into Merrimack College, then the first piece of information we need to take note of is Merrimack College’s acceptance rate of 82%. For early admission students, the acceptance rate is even higher at 90.8%.
There is a term for colleges that are quite easy to get into—”safety schools” are schools a student can apply to. This high acceptance rate means that Merrimack is not very selective in its process, which is good for students who want to go there. At the same time, they try their chances at more competitive colleges, confident that even if they miss the college they intended to attend, they will still have a preferred college they would fall back on. Hence “safety school.”
The ease of entering Merrimack College is surprising, but that doesn’t mean you can just waltz in with no problem and instantly become a school member. What are the requirements to enter Merrimack College? Are these requirements as easy as the acceptance rate would have you believe?
What are the Admission Requirements to Merrimack College?
Students who apply to Merrimack are given a relatively small number of requirements: they need to fill in an application, send in their high school transcripts, give a Common Application Secondary School Report (which amounts to information on the high school the student attended), and a letter of recommendation from a teacher or a school counselor.
The average GPA at Merrimack College is 3.17, which is fairly reasonable for the average high school student. Merrimack College’s application deadlines are very generous, with several months between the priority deadline and the regular deadline (for example, the Fall semester’s priority and regular deadline is March 15 and August 15 respectively). The admission decision is also made within a weak of application.
What makes applying to Merrimack College more unique (and difficult) is the number of additional recommendations and considerations that, while not required to apply, can greatly impact whether you will be accepted. Alone, they might not mean much, but in a more competitive field, where other students are likely to meet these considerations, a student may be tarnishing their own application by not being able to keep up.
These considerations include:
- Academic achievements (such as Honors or Advanced Placement),
- The strength of a student’s curriculum (which also includes the kind of course that a student has taken and completed in high school),
- A student’s involvement with the community,
- The extracurricular activities a student has participated in,
- An essay on why the student chooses Merrimack,
- And finally, an interview with the people of Merrimack College.
Merrimack does not consider test scores in its application review process.
We should also note that while there are no fees to get into Merrimack College, there are the very high tuition and other costs that you also have to consider when applying. The tuition for the 2022-2023 year is $45,815; that is nearly half of $100,000. And that is only for one year. A full four-year ride in Merrimack can run you at least a quarter of a million!
Now that we have gotten the requirements out of the way, we can explain what you can do to make your likely chances of getting into Merrimack College even more likely.
5 Tips for Making Your Merrimack College Application Stand Out
Just because the acceptance rate is high and getting into Merrimack College is easier than many other colleges doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play diligently. An 80% chance to succeed is still a 20% chance to fail, and failure hurts a lot more. If you take this seriously and diligently, that 80% acceptance rate will feel more like a 100% acceptance rate! If you want to be sure that you will get into Merrimack College, you should heed our advice. Thankfully, we have five concise but particular tips that you can follow to make your application stand out.
Aim for Those High Grades
What Merrimack College looks for first in their applicants is academic success. While in high school, you can leave with a transcript that would make any college blush. Colleges will closely monitor students who demonstrate impeccably high-grade point averages and SAT and ACT scores. While Merrimack may have a high acceptance rate, that does not mean they have low standards.
Impress Merrimack by succeeding in your high school classes and attaining higher grades.
Attend High-Level Classes
While aiming for high grades is a straightforward way to bedazzle your transcript, taking the high-level Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes on top of your regular classes will improve your chances even more. Though this is easier said than done, as many high schools do not offer such classes and, if they do, require that their students be at the top of their class or close to it. If your high school does have these classes and you are following the first tip, then this advice becomes achievable.
Try taking high-level classes to show your academic achievement as well as prowess. If you are already succeeding in your grades, then AP and IB classes will feel like a piece of cake.
Research Merrimack College
A good way to get ahead of the curve is to familiarize yourself with the college you want to attend. The first in this business is researching Merrimack College, with the most convenient resource being their own website. Learn what majors they allow and what their campus offers to those who are able to stay there. You can also contact the professors and staff who work there for a secondhand student experience. If you are lucky, you can contact the students who go there (or have graduated) and get a firsthand experience yourself.
Researching Merrimack College is a great way to add some real experience and confidence when you are taking up an interview with the college.
Get Into Extracurricular Activities
If you need something to make you stand out among all the other applicants, it’s a nice set of extracurricular activities. Merrimack College includes extracurricular activities among their considerations, but many students tend not to, so achieving this credit can be a substantial boon to your application.
Extracurricular activities vary greatly, ranging from a club or sport you can join in high school to volunteer work like working at a shelter or helping to make an event go smoothly to straight up getting a job. Getting these credits on your transcript and interview requires going out of your way, but it is worthwhile and will make your application look much more impressive.
If you find yourself at a loss to make your application stand out, try taking extracurricular activities to show that you have a lot more going on than just going to school every day.
Try Athletic Scholarships
A big part of Merrimack College is its sports division, for which it has many different teams. The Merrimack Warriors participate in basketball, soccer, and even ice hockey. For many students, especially those whose regular academic potential is left in the wayside, an athletics scholarship is the best way for them to fund their time at a college, as the colleges typically offer a full ride. Merrimack is no exception, as students who meet the college’s athletic standards are offered an athletic scholarship that pays for full tuition, room and board, books, and other fees.
It is physically taxing to measure up to the athletic standards of a college, but you get the best of both worlds in exercising with sports and getting the college education you want. If all other avenues fail, this is your next best option!
Wrapping Things Up: How Hard Is It to Get Into Merrimack College?
How hard is it to get into Merrimack College? Ultimately, it is not too difficult to try. The acceptance rate for the college is high, and they offer a student enough considerations and recommendations to make their applicant shine. If this is a college that you are interested in going to, then the only thing that is stopping you is your hesitation. Listen to this article, heed our advice, and prepare to become a proud student of Merrimack College!
