Occidental College: A Parent's Guide to Admissions, Cost & Outcomes
Oakland, California · Private nonprofit · Highly selective · CDS 2024-2025
Occidental College is a private institution located in Oakland, California and one of the highly selective schools in the country. For the most recent reporting cycle, Occidental College admits roughly one in four applicants, with an overall admission rate of 17%. Admitted students typically post an average SAT of 1472 and an ACT composite around 31. Published in-state tuition is $63,949 per year before financial aid is applied. For parents weighing whether Occidental College is realistic for their teenager, the most useful planning step is comparing your child's current GPA and most recent SAT or ACT against these admitted-student ranges — not the headline acceptance rate alone.
What GPA does my child need for Occidental College?
Most admitted students at Occidental College present unweighted GPAs in the 3.85–4.0 range with five or more AP or honors courses across high school. Parents tracking their child's GPA toward this tier of school can use Solyo's free calculator to see weighted, unweighted, and college-recalculated numbers side by side.
SAT and ACT scores Occidental College typically admits
The middle-50 SAT Math range is 720–780, with an EBRW midpoint near 736. The middle-50 ACT composite range is 31–33. Scores below the 25th-percentile mark are accepted occasionally, but the realistic submission target for most families is the school's middle-50 floor or higher.
| 25th percentile | — |
| 50th percentile | 1472 |
| 75th percentile | — |
| 25th percentile | 31 |
| 50th percentile | 31 |
| 75th percentile | 33 |
How much does Occidental College actually cost?
Published tuition is $63,949 for in-state students and $63,949 for out-of-state, before grants and scholarships. Room and board adds roughly $18,790 annually. Roughly — of students receive Pell Grants, a useful indicator of how much need-based aid the school distributes.
Application deadlines and early decision data for Occidental College
Other colleges in California parents ask about
- Stanford University4% acceptance
- University of California-Berkeley12% acceptance
- University of California-Los Angeles9% acceptance
- University of Southern California10% acceptance
- University of California-Davis42% acceptance
- University of California-Irvine26% acceptance
- University of California-San Diego25% acceptance
- University of California-Santa Barbara63% acceptance
How parents track GPA toward selective schools like Occidental College
Solyo helps parents track grades pulled directly from school emails, calculate GPA the same way colleges like Occidental College recalculate it, and ask an AI college counselor specific questions about their teen's odds. The platform is built for parents — not students — and turns what's usually a fragmented planning process into a single dashboard.
Common questions parents ask about Occidental College
What GPA do I need for Occidental College?
Most admitted students at Occidental College present unweighted GPAs in the 3.85–4.0 range with five or more AP or honors courses across high school.
What SAT or ACT score does Occidental College typically admit?
The middle-50 SAT Math range is 720–780, with an EBRW midpoint near 736. The middle-50 ACT composite range is 31–33.
How much does Occidental College actually cost after financial aid?
Occidental College does not report a public average net price in the latest cycle. Use the school's official Net Price Calculator (linked from its admissions site) to get a personalized estimate before applying.
Is Occidental College realistic for my child?
Compare your teen's current unweighted GPA and most recent SAT or ACT against the ranges above. If both numbers fall inside the school's middle-50, Occidental College is a target school. If both fall below the 25th-percentile mark, treat it as a reach and balance the application list accordingly.
Data sourced from the 2024-2025 Common Data Set submitted by Occidental College, and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Solyo extracts admissions data from official Common Data Set publications and refreshes it annually.