Admissions

Admission Requirements

A successful application for admission to Gordon gives evidence of strong academic promise and strong Christian commitment.

Students are prepared for the curriculum at Gordon when they have successfully completed courses in the following areas at the college preparatory level: English (four years), mathematics (two years, three years preferred), science (two years, three years preferred, including at least one year of a laboratory science), social studies (two years) and five courses of acceptable electives, including two years of the same foreign language (four years strongly recommended).

Students need to meet the compulsory age of attendance in Massachusetts.

Other factors that contribute to a successful application include athletic, music or drama experience, cross-cultural perspective, and proven leadership ability in service to church, community or school.

Application Plans

Students may select an application plan that will best meet their needs. Options may be discussed during the admission interview before making this selection. Please note: All credentials submitted to the Admissions Office become the property of Gordon College.

Check the admissions website (https://www.gordon.edu/apply) for application deadlines and note that the following scholarships have specific application deadlines: Global Honors Scholarship, A. J. Gordon Scholarship, Clarendon Scholarship and First-year Fellows.

Applications received after March 1 will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Accepted students will need to submit a nonrefundable deposit of $250 by May 1 to ensure space in the class.

Students interested in enrolling after their junior year should contact the director of admissions for specific requirements.

Application Procedures

The following credentials are required for completing admission applications to Gordon. Gordon reserves the right to require additional application materials, should they be necessary, in order to make a sound admission decision. Students are responsible  to submit records of all academic courses in which they have enrolled.

Freshman Applicants

Required Credentials: 

• ​Application
• High school transcript 

Optional Credentials: 

• Transcripts showing dual enrollment classes if credit is desired 
• SAT,  ACT or CLT optional.  Gordon will calculate best scholarship with or without test scores 
• An academic reference is optional but encouraged
• An admissions interview is encouraged but not required

Language Placement. The core requirement in language study at Gordon College is two semesters (101, 102) of study of the same language. The requirement may also be fulfilled in the following ways:

• Students may submit to the Registrar’s Office scores for either the Advanced Placement Exam or the CLEP Subject Examination in order to fulfill either one or two semesters of Gordon’s language requirement as follows:
  • A minimum score of 4 on any Advanced Placement language exam will fulfill Gordon’s one-year language requirement with credit.
  • A minimum CLEP score of 64 in French, 59 in German, and 56 in Spanish will fulfill the one-year language requirement without credit.

• Incoming students who have completed levels 1 and 2 of French, Latin or Spanish in high school may enroll in 101 in that language without taking the placement test. Incoming students who have completed level 3 or higher in high school must take the placement test before enrolling in any course in that language. These placement tests are diagnostic tools administered during fall Orientation as well as in early January, and no academic credit is awarded. However, if students have placed out of a particular language course, they will not receive credit for taking the same language course at Gordon. Students may not take the placement test more than once in the same language.

• The on-campus placement test must also be taken by all students wishing to continue their study of language at the intermediate level (201) or above. Please note this includes those students who already have a BYU or Advanced Placement score on file.

• Students who have earned high school credit for level 3 of a language other than French, Latin or Spanish, or those proficient in another language, must independently arrange to take a language correspondence test through Brigham Young University (flats.byu.edu) and submit their official scores to the Registrar’s Office. Contact the department chair for more information.

• Students whose native language is not English may use a TOEFL score or a transcript from a secondary school where instruction was conducted in the native language, to validate Gordon’s language requirement.

Students may not receive credit for a Gordon language course which they have validated by testing or for which they have received transfer credit.

Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and College Level Examination Program

The College grants college credit to applicants who have completed Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate Programme exams and CLEP exams as follows:

• Applicants with AP exams with grades of 4 or better who have been enrolled in the Advanced Placement Program in high school, and who have had official test results sent to the College, will be awarded credit up to a maximum of 32 credits.
• Higher Level International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme exams with scores of 5 or better will be awarded credit upon receipt of the official certificate as determined by the appropriate academic department.
• Applicants with CLEP exams with qualifying scores, and who have had official test results sent to the College, will be awarded credit and/or validation as determined by the appropriate academic department.

Transfer Applicants

Required Credentials:

• Application
• Official college transcripts
• High school transcript if less than one collegiate academic year has been completed (less than 24 completed semester credits)
• Transfer Verification form to be filled out by a college official such as Dean of Students or Registrar or other college official who can verify that a transfer applicant is in good standing with the sending school.

Optional Credentials:

• An admission interview is encouraged but not required.
• Students with less than 24 academic credits may submit SAT, ACT or CLT scores but test scores are not required.

A college catalog may be required for transfer credit evaluation if not available online. See Foreign Language Placement above.

Transfer students’ transcripts are evaluated by the Registrar’s Office and faculty. Transfer credit will normally be granted for courses officially transcripted by an accredited institution or the American Council on Education (ACE) provided such work is appropriate to a degree. Courses of a vocational nature or completed with a grade of D+ or below are not transferable.  Work from unaccredited institutions will be considered with additional documentation, which, on evaluation by Gordon faculty, demonstrates equivalency of information and learning outcomes. Giving credit for a course does not guarantee the course will fulfill a major requirement. A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 is required but does not guarantee acceptance. Application of transfer credit must be finalized by the end of the first term at Gordon College. Transfer candidates may receive an unofficial transfer assessment by Transferology at https://www.transferology.com/school/gordon. 

Gordon participates in the Massachusetts Transfer Guarantee program, which ensures acceptance and junior status to students who have completed an Associate Degree from a Massachusetts community college with a minimum GPA of 2.5.

Transfer applicants who have earned an associate’s degree in a liberal arts major will receive the core waivers below. Whenever possible, appropriate transfer courses will be applied to these requirements, but when not possible, the core requirement will be waived. Some programs or scholarships may still require students to complete courses that may have been waived as a core requirement.

• COR 107 - The Great Conversation: Foundations in Thinking, Reading and Writing  
• La Vida/Discovery requirement
• HIS 121 - Historical Perspectives on Culture, Belief and Civilization  
• NSM 202 - The Scientific Enterprise 
• Core Philosophy requirement
• Natural Sciences
• Social Sciences
• Fine Arts
• Literature

Pass/fail courses are not transferable without official validation that the minimum passing grade is C. A student’s Gordon cumulative grade point average is computed only on credits attempted in courses listed in the Gordon catalog.

International Applicants

Required Credentials:

• Application
• Academic Records/Transcripts from all secondary schools. For transfer applicants, all records from universities attended are required.
  • Transcripts much be in English and be converted to the U.S. grading scale using SPANTRAN or WES (World Education Services) or a similar credential evaluation service report from an organization accredited by NACES. The applicant bears the cost of analysis. For further information, see the instructions for international applicants on the Gordon College Admissions website, https://www.gordon.edu/internationalapply
• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), Duolingo, IELTS, ACT or SAT. Students from English speaking countries and students who have been studying in the United States may be eligible to waive the English proficiency test requirement. 
• International Student Finance Form
• Required Admissions interview

Homeschooled Applicants

Homeschooled students must submit a high school transcript including grades or performance assessment. Optional materials may be submitted, such as a description of the curriculum used; grades or progress reports; a list of required texts or readings and a report on experiential learning through field trips; special projects or extracurricular activities. Note: All other regular admission credentials must be submitted.

Readmission

All students seeking readmission must apply through the Admissions Office.

Non-Degree-Seeking Applicants (Non-degree students receiving academic credit)

Credentials. Application; high school transcript or other evidence of completion of high school graduation requirements; and an admission interview. Note: Special students are ineligible for financial aid.

Dual Enrollment 

Credentials. Application. Note: Concurrent enrolled students are ineligible for federal financial aid.  (see website for details)

Audit Applicants (Non-degree students not receiving academic credit)

Credentials. Application; high school transcript or other evidence of completion of high school graduation requirements. Auditors pay one-half tuition and register for courses after receiving approval from the registrar and the instructor.

Alumni Auditors. Graduates of Gordon or Barrington Colleges may apply to audit one course per term tuition free. A $10 registration fee will be charged for each course. In addition, the student will be responsible for any course fees.

Art Majors

In order for prospective students to apply for the art major at Gordon, they must first submit a portfolio and be approved by a faculty review board. Contact the Art Department for portfolio requirements, deadlines and guidelines at www.gordon.edu/art.

Education Majors

Provisional declaration of education majors may be made at any time. However, students should note that special admission requirements must be met to be fully accepted into a teacher education program, which includes permission for upper-level courses and practicum. Requirements include a minimum GPA of 2.70; grades of C or better in all education courses; and a passing score on the Massachusetts Test for Educator Licensure (MTEL): Communication and Literacy Test. Contact chair, Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education, or Department of Middle School/Secondary Education, for further information at www.gordon.edu/departments/education.

Music Majors

All students who wish to major or minor in music must audition to be accepted into the department after submitting a formal application to the College. Specific audition days are established each year by the music faculty to hear auditions of prospective majors and minors. In addition to the performance audition, students must complete a music application; submit a letter of recommendation from a recent music instructor; and take a music theory entrance examination. Students unable to audition in person may submit a recorded performance. Students should contact the undergraduate program coordinator in the Department of Music to begin the music application and audition process at www.gordon.edu/music.

Application Deadlines

It is always to the applicant’s advantage to submit the application and all credentials as early as possible.  Application and Deposit deadlines are listed at https://www.gordon.edu/apply.