Wake Forest could be described as a liberal arts college with a strong research backbone, or as a research institution with a liberal arts ethos. Both apply. The university has become famous for offering undergraduate students the types of opportunities typically only available at much larger institutions, but in a manageable package and a close-knit community. There are about 5,600 undergraduate students total, and that accounts for about ⅔ of the total student body. The acceptance rate for the Class of 2030 was 17%.
As you prepare to apply to Wake Forest, the first step is to make sure that the numbers in your application (your grades and scores) measure up. While Wake Forest has been test optional since 2008, that doesn’t mean that you should stop studying for the SAT or ACT. About 50% of recently accepted and enrolled first-years did submit either the SAT or the ACT. This tells us that you can absolutely get in without submitting scores, but also that strong scores further strengthen an impressive application. What is a strong score for Wake Forest? We advise our students to aim for a 1490 on the SAT or a 34 on the ACT. Either would put you in the 75th percentile, which is a great place to be at (or above).
When it comes to grades, Wake Forest requires that applicants take a fully distributed course load while in high school, so you can’t have dropped a foreign language freshman year just because you disliked it and still be eligible for admission. Most applicants do not come from schools that rank the senior class, but of those who do submit a rank nearly all of the accepted and enrolled first-years, over 98%, were in the top half of their senior class. 61% were in the top tenth.
Once you have your grades and scores in order, you have to decide how you are going to apply. Wake Forest offers Early Decision I, Early Action, Early Decision II, and Regular Decision. Unless you are applying to another school REA, there is no excuse for not at least applying Early Action. The early avenues to admission offer a boosted acceptance rate, with Early Decision I being the most favored.
Once you have picked your route to Wake Forest, it’s time to get writing. That’s what we’ll dig into next.
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The application supplement for Wake Forest is mostly optional. We’ll yell, now, for those in the back: Optional is not optional if you want to get in. Not doing the supplement is like raising your hand in the classroom to get out of an extra credit project. You are basically saying to them that Wake Forest is a back-up that you don’t think you’ll need. The problem with that, even if you feel it applies to you, is that Wake Forest won’t admit students who they feel aren’t invested in at least the possibility of attending. So, you need to do the supplement. If you don’t, you’re wasting your money on the application fee.
Now, let’s get into it.
The Required Question: “Why Wake?” (100 words)
This is a big question for such a small amount of space. 100 words is only about six lines of text, so you need to accomplish a lot in a compact space. First, some research. You’re going to college, so the core of this supplement response must be about education. We need you to find the name of your prospective major (if you aren’t sure, that’s okay — but it’s not okay for this prompt. Pick one.), a class you are particularly excited about within the major, a professor you hope to learn from or research with, and a program within the university that makes Wake Forest a stand-out option for you. This could be in research, but it doesn’t have to be.
Once you have your research, it’s time to write a compact story. Open with an image of you engaging with the subject you hope to major in or conducting research. This should be real, and be tagged to something they will see in your activities section. Then, transition to Wake and how you would go deeper there, specifying the name of the major, a class, a professor, and a reason the Wake program resonates with your learning goals.
The Optional Section:
“Our application will continue to allow students to “share their voice” in the way that they choose. They may submit a written response, a video, or both. They can also request an interview, submit a written response, or both. None of these options is required, expected, or give an applicant an advantage in the admission process.
First, let’s get something straight: optional is not optional if you want to get in. So, yes, you will be doing this. At minimum you will complete the written response. High achievers will do a video, too, although that isn’t completely necessary.
For students who opt for the written supplement, you will choose and respond to just one of the following four prompts (a change from past years where students could answer multiple prompts):
List five books you’ve read that have intrigued you. (150 character limit per book title)
This is the lame option. It’s the minimum viable product (MVP) of Wake Forest supplements. If you pick it, you are saying “ehhhhh.” If you do go for it, though, you need to fit the name of the book, the author, and what caught and kept your attention into the 150 characters for each title. These should not be books you were assigned in your run-of-the-mill English class, but could be from a literature, history, or language elective.
Tell us what piques your intellectual curiosity or has helped you understand the world’s complexity. This can include a work you’ve read, a project you’ve completed for a class, and even co-curricular activities in which you have been involved. (150 word limit)
This is a prompt we love. Like, why choose to make a list when you can share your enthusiasm for something that is, ideally, at least loosely related to what you want to study. It doesn’t need to be a perfect fit, though. Like if you want to pursue biology, you could focus on a wild flower, or if you want to study history you could share about an archeological find that reframed understandings of early humans. Whatever you pick, here, you need to go all in. The reader should finish the supplement as excited about the topic as you are. The best way to pull that off is through story, so paint a picture of your engaging with this idea or event rather than simply explaining it to them.
Dr. Maya Angelou, renowned author, poet, civil-rights activist, and former Wake Forest University Reynolds Professor of American Studies, inspired others to celebrate their identities and to honor each person’s dignity. Choose one of Dr. Angelou’s powerful quotes. How does this quote relate to your lived experience or reflect how you plan to contribute to the Wake Forest community? (300 word limit)
We don’t love this prompt because it requires you to a) find a quote, b) write a response to the quote, and c) relate the response back to Wake Forest. Do we like this one better than the lists? Absolutely, but it’s definitely our second choice.
Start by finding an actual quote from Dr. Maya Angelou’s writing, not what comes up when you search for “Maya Angelou Quotes” online. First, because it will show curiosity and won’t be used by hundreds of other applicants. And also because many of the quotes that get highlighted as the most famous are actually paraphrased or entirely made up, you really don’t want to write about something she actually never said or wrote.
Once you have your quote, you need to build your narrative around it. The supplement shouldn’t start with a quote then go to you explaining what it means to you. Instead, weave a story that the quote fits into. Connect that to Wake through specific examples of ways that you would engage with the community on campus, furthering your priorities and passions as a Deacon.
Give us your Top Ten List. (The choice of theme is yours.) (100 character limit per line)”
What we like about this prompt that makes it preferable to #1 is that you can have more fun here. You can take it wherever you want, rather than having to focus on book titles. Don’t take it too far afield, though. Make sure it is personal.
Getting into Wake Forest requires showing them that they are a priority to you. Obviously, applying Early Decision is the best way to do that. If you aren’t going to ED, though, you need to show through your application that Wake isn’t an afterthought or a back-up. You truly love what they offer, and are excited by the idea of joining the community.
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