Simpson College Admission
Simpson College Undergraduate Program
Simpson College Application

The Facts

Simpson College is a rather small, private institution located in the town of Indianola, Iowa, and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Simpson is actually one of the oldest institutions in the state of Iowa, as it was founded as early as the year 1860. The school is home to over 1,400 undergraduate students and approximately 450 graduate and part-time professional students who are able to take courses in both the liberal arts and sciences as well as preprofessional studies. The college’s academic divisions offer broad majors in the areas of biological science, (home to an innovative program in biochemistry) business, (one of the most popular programs with majors as diverse as sports management and accounting) communications and the arts, (home to wonderful programs in journalism, the performing arts, as well as rhetoric) computer and physical science, education, (which includes a hard to find program in drama education) engineering and environmental design, as well as the social sciences. Simpson College offers its students a fairly wide range of majors in both the liberal arts and sciences as well as preprofessional studies, however, some of the most popular with students include majors in the areas of natural sciences, management, visual arts, performing arts, education, as well as biology.

Admission to Simpson College is quite competitive among the few students who apply, however, the overall number of qualified applicants has been steadily increasing with each passing admissions cycle. Last year, over 1,270 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 1,100 of those students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 410 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming Fall semester. The admitted students had an average combined SAT score ranging from 1100 to 1180 and an average comprehensive ACT score ranging from 24 to 32. Additionally, more than 80% of the admitted students were ranked in the top 10% of their high school graduating class with an average high school GPA of about a 3.7.

Simpson College has a very manageable student to faculty ratio of 17:1, however, there are other private schools of comparable size that manage to keep their number significantly lower. There are rarely any lecture courses held, and most of the classes are discussion based, giving every student a chance to have their voice heard.

The Social Scene

The town of Indianola is quite suburban, and doesn’t really offer students much in the way of entertainment, however, the larger city of Des Moines is only about a 12 minute drive away, and many students own cars, making weekend excursions into the city quite popular. The school itself is home to 8 national and local fraternities and sororities which are quite popular with students. The Greeks basically run the on campus social life, and their weekend parties are the highlight of most students’ social calendars. Drinking is definitely the most popular mode of social interaction at these soirees, and the administration seems to turn a blind eye for the most part.

The dating scene is surprisingly vibrant, and students often mingle with dates from other nearby colleges, of which there are several...

What’s Good

“The area we’re in is chock-full of other colleges and universities, which makes for a great social life.”

“I think the school is the perfect size. Not too big, not too small.”

“My professors obviously put all their effort into their classes.”

What’s Bad

“I think the administration needs to offer us more social opportunities as alternatives to sitting around a frat drinking.”

“It would be nice to have a little more diversity here.”

“Sometimes there is a severe lack of on campus housing, and off campus housing isn’t easy to find, nor is it cheap.”

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