Carleton College
MN · Private · Midwest · Liberal arts college · Top 25 tier · 1,911 undergraduates (small)
Admission rates
Latest admit rates
How much of the class comes from ED
~51% of enrolled freshmen were admitted through Early Decision.
This is a share of the freshman class, not an admit rate.
† Regular round (est.) = (all admitted students − Early Decision admits) ÷ (all applicants − Early Decision applicants).
Trends, Fall 2019–Fall 2025
Admission rates
ED share of the enrolled freshman class (% of first-years admitted ED, not an admit rate)
Early plans
Fall 2027 applicants
Testing
Testing policy
Superscoring
What this means:
- SAT
- Not stated
- ACT
- Not stated
Source ↗ · checked Nov 3, 2026
Permanently test-optional and asks for complete results, but no superscore policy is stated.
How to send scores
Self-report accepted; official scores only after admission/enrollment
School’s words: “However, students who enroll at Carleton must later submit official score reports of their self-reported scores.”
Source ↗ · checked Nov 3, 2026
Students submitting scores
‡ Est. % submitting scores adds the share of enrolled first-years who submitted the SAT to the share who submitted the ACT.
Score ranges (middle 50%)
Enrolled first-years who submitted scores, Fall 2025. A quarter scored below the range and a quarter above.
Trends, Fall 2019–Fall 2025
Share of enrolled students submitting scores
SAT composite, middle 50%
ACT composite, middle 50%
Year-by-year data, Fall 2019–Fall 2025
| CDS year | Admitted | Admit rate | ED rate | ED share of class | Est. % submitting | % SAT | % ACT | SAT mid-50 | ACT mid-50 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 ↗ | 1,400 | 19% | 25.7% | 47% | Not reported | 57.3% | Not reported | 1380-1520 | 31-34 | |
| 2020-21 ↗ | 1,460 | 21.2% | 59.8% | 51% | 100% | 52% | 59% | 1340-1508 | 30-34 | |
| 2021-22 ↗ | 1,389 | 17.5% | 22.1% | Not reported | 69% | 35.3% | 33.7% | 1440-1530 | 31-35 | |
| 2022-23 ↗ | 1,427 | 16.6% | 22.9% | 50% | 63.9% | 35.9% | 28% | 1430-1540 | 32-35 | |
| 2023-24 ↗ | 1,440 | 22.3% | 38.8% | Not reported | 60% | 32% | 28% | 1440-1530 | 32-34 | |
| 2024-25 ↗ | 1,456 | 20.4% | 36.6% | Not reported | 59% | 34% | 25% | 1470-1540 | 32-35 | |
| 2025-26 ↗ | 1,480 | 21.8% | 34.6% | Not reported | 64.1% | 39.4% | 24.7% | 1460-1530 | 32-35 |
Waitlist admit rate
Share of students who stayed on the waitlist and were later admitted, by entering class.
- 2025: 10%
- 2024: 21%
- 2023: 10%
- 2022: 5%
- 2021: 2%
Test policy in each Common Data Set
History only. The current policy is under Testing above.
- Fall 2027 Test-optional2025-26 CDS
- Fall 2026 Not reported2024-25 CDS
- Fall 2025 Not reported2023-24 CDS
- Fall 2024 Test-optional2022-23 CDS
- Fall 2023 Test-optional2021-22 CDS
- Fall 2022 Test-optional2020-21 CDS
- Fall 2021 Required2019-20 CDS
From the school's website
Figures from the school’s own pages that add to its Common Data Set. Each links its source.
Carleton's Class of 2029 profile reports 7,449 applicants, a 20% admit rate and 518 enrolled. The Common Data Set reports 6,796 applicants. No score range is published.
Source: Carleton Class of 2029 profile (archived Nov 3, 2025) ↗