Hello!
Has anyone here ever gone to or applied to Wheaton college? If so, do you have any tips on how to get in? I know they accept about 70% of their applicants, so they are not super selective, but any help would be soo appreciated!
The pool is, in part, self selected: only academically-oriented Christian overachievers apply. 
So, while their acceptance rate is high, their selectivity is high too. In order to get in, you need a rigorous high school preparation (all 5 core courses each year of HS, that is 4 years each of English, Social Science/History, Science, plus math up to precalculus or calculus and foreign language up to level 4 or AP), plus demonstrated commitment to an evangelical Christian church.
@MYOS1634 Haha, that is true. I know the average SAT/ACT/GPA is really good there (not IVY league quality, but really good!)
Ugh, I meet all those requirements basically except for the math. I just have Algebra 1, 2, Geometry, and a college math course I took (but it was just an intro course, not pre -calc). My intended major is music, not engineering or science - will this hurt my application a lot?
If you have everything except precalc you should be okay, assuming you have music classes to “make up” for that fact.
If music is your intended major, you may also want to think about other religious or church-affiliated schools that have good music programs, such as St. Olaf, Belmont University, or Brevard College (there are others, of course, but those two come to mind).
Also, here is an excerpt about Wheaton and Houghton College (in New York) from another thread, on music education at Christian colleges:
“Wheaton doesn’t have a “music department” they have a conservatory. I don’t think they are considered liberal arts if that’s what you’re looking for. Houghton has a very strong music department without the music being in a separate school. Also, with Wheaton, I think you audition when you get into the school. Whereas, at Houghton, I’m pretty sure you can get into the college and then audition and apply for the school of music which is a better option for someone who is good, but not as high end with their music. It also means you can double major or take electives to provide job security. For example, you could probably double major in El Ed and Music Ed, so that you can be a regular teacher if you can’t find a job as a music teacher.”
@gandalf78 Thanks for the suggestion! I have not heard of Brevard before, but maybe I will take a look.
I do know that Wheaton has a Conserve and I think it is considered to be pretty good. Thanks for the tips!
If you can consider colleges such as St Olaf, it’s definitely a cut above for music (and excellent academically). You’ll need the same preparation as for Wheaton, with mostly A’s, strong test scores, lots of supplemental essays; both a recommendation from a music teacher/tutor and a pastor in addition to an academic teacher’s can be helpful.
Also look into Luther and Concordia Moorhead.
The difference between conservatory and music being integrated into the college is that the conservatory students are more specialized and their education is less well-rounded. So if you want to work as a church organist (for instance), it’s good, but if you want to work as a Christian school music teacher and worship leader, a liberal arts college setting is better.
@MYOS1634 Wow, thanks for the info about the conservatory. I did not realize that the education was not as good (for LA) there.
It is very good, but it’s musical education. So you become an excellent musician but you do not have the same requirements as other college students. The degree is a BM, or Bachelor of Music, not a BA. That’s why you enter by audition - you must be dedicated to your music and instrument and are selected on this rather than well-rounded academics. They do prepare you to be certified to teach music in Illinois if you’re interested though and the program is very strong. The degree in performance or composition is more specialized.
http://www.wheaton.edu/academics/departments/conservatory
Hands-down, St Olaf is the best of all those cited, but you need to visit because while it’s a Christian college, it’s Lutheran, not evangelical. For instance, there’s chapel every day, but it’s not mandatory. There are mandatory religion classes but they focus on examining biblical texts and seeing how they’ve been interpreted, not just one interpretation, looking at various implications or traditions (ie., you’ll be reading an Old Testament text and study how it’s been interpreted through paintings, how Jewish scholars saw this text before and after Christ, how various Christian scholars see it, etc.), and one of these classes can focus on a non-Christian faith or on Faith&Ethics.
@MYOS1634 Wow, thanks for all the info! Do you have any idea about the questions they ask for the interviews at Wheaton? Or how to write a good essay for Wheaton? I am sort of set on going to an evangelical Christian college, but St. Olaf could be a possibility.
They may ask you to describe yourself, speak about your favorite class/book/film, discuss a church activity that was especially meaningful, and obviously why Wheaton.