Wellesley College is a private women’s liberal-arts college in the town of Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States, west of Boston. Founded in 1870, Wellesley is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges. Wellesley is the highest ranking women’s college in the U.S., and one of the top liberal arts colleges, ranking 4th by U.S. News & World Report. The school is also the highest endowed women’s college. For the 2014–15 year admissions cycle, Wellesley admitted 29% of its applicants. Wellesley’s average class size is between 17 and 20 students, with a student-faculty ratio of 7:1. Wellesley’s libraries contain more than 1.5 million cataloged books, journals, media recordings, maps, and other items. Wellesley has a total of 56 departmental and interdepartmental majors as well as an option for an individual major designed by the student.
According to the 2014 U.S. News & World Report rankings, Wellesley is ranked 4th for liberal arts college and 1st for women’s colleges.[27] In addition, Forbes’ 2013 “America’s Top Colleges” ranked the institution 16th of all US colleges and universities. In 2013, Forbes Magazine ranked Wellesley as 8th in the United States in its list of “The 25 Colleges with the Smartest Students.” Wellesley has the 8th highest SAT scores of all liberal arts college with an average SAT I score of 1410, tied with Claremont McKenna.
Wellesley fields 14 varsity sports teams – basketball, crew, cross country, fencing, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, squash, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Wellesley does not have a mascot in the traditional sense – its sports teams are referred to both individually and collectively as the Blue. The school colors are royal blue and white.
Wellesley is a member of the NCAA Division III and the Eastern Conference Athletic Conference (ECAC) and competes primarily as a member of the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC).