Celebrating the College Acceptance Results of BIM’s Class of 2026
May 21, 2026
On May 1, Decision Day, our seniors gathered for a barbecue and announced their college destinations. We are so proud of all of them and the hard work it took to get to this moment.
“Our seniors have so much to celebrate this year!” says Head of School Kate Reynolds. “The opportunities they have earned are a testament to their hard work and the support from our faculty and community. They have excelled in the classroom, in clubs, and in extracurriculars outside our walls, and they have left their mark on our community. We’re thrilled to see what they do next!”
The class of 2026’s hard work is reflected in some truly impressive statistics:
95% of our graduates were accepted to a top 50 school1
70% of our graduates were accepted to a US News top 26 school
50% of our graduates were accepted to a US News top 25 school
23% were accepted into a school ranked in Times Higher Ed the global top 10
15% were accepted into a school ranked in the US News top 10
Here is an impressive list of schools where our students were accepted:
American Amherst Boston University Cal Tech Carnegie Mellon Case Western Cornell Davidson Duke Emory Georgetown George Washington Georgia Tech Harvard Johns Hopkins McGill NYU Northeastern Northwestern Oxford Purdue
Rice St. John’s College Stanford Texas A&M Virginia Tech University of California, Berkeley University of California, Irvine University of California, Los Angeles University of California, San Diego University of California, Santa Barbara University of Florida University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Michigan University of North Carolina University of Pennsylvania University of South Florida University of Toronto University of Virginia University of Washington Washington University in St. Louis William & Mary
Most importantly, all of our seniors have worked hard to find a place that fits them and will help them grow and pursue their goals. As college counselor Mr. Ramsby notes:
“This class, BIM’s largest to date, succeeded remarkably in their college admission process. As you can see from the stats above, they achieved outstanding results from the schools they applied to. They were extremely thoughtful and deliberate in their college searches. By this fall, they will be scattered across the United States, from California to Boston, and also into Canada and the UK.”
Among many accolades our graduates received includes over $3 million in scholarship offers. Four students received full-ride scholarship offers, including the historic Morehead-Cain scholarship. Two students received National Merit scholarships, and one is a semifinalist for the Presidential Scholar award.
Our seniors took many different paths to these destinations. Some threw themselves into scientific research. Others competed in quiz bowl or debate. Others played sports or wrote poetry. We are proud of them all, and of the young adults they have become.
In the coming weeks, we will be sharing stories of our seniors’ journeys, from when they first arrived at BIM to where they are now. We do this to celebrate our seniors and to show our younger students and families that there are many different roads to success at our school and beyond.
Wherever our seniors go, BIM will always be a welcome place for them to come home to. We will miss them and wish them well as they begin this next phase of their lives!
Congratulations, Class of 2026!
1 92% were admitted to a US News & World Report top-50 school. The US News list does not include international schools, and we also had students admitted to Toronto (global #21) and McGill (global #41) in the Times Higher Education World University rankings. Every senior was accepted to a school ranked at least in the US News top 59.
BASIS Independent McLean is an Age 2–Grade 12 private school, providing students with an internationally benchmarked liberal arts and sciences curriculum, with advanced STEM offerings. Considering joining the Red-Tailed Hawks community? To join our interest list for the next school year and receive admissions updates and more, please click here.
