Carleton acceptance rate and admissions statistics
Carleton admitted 1,480 of 6,796 first-year applicants in its 2025-26 Common Data Set, an official acceptance rate of 21.8%. Every number below comes from the college’s own Common Data Set, each year linked to its document; a figure the college leaves blank says “Not published”, and the notes at the foot of the page say where a total is the sum of rows the college printed.
What did admitted applicants have? How to get into Carleton counts the grades, scores and activities they posted.
Carleton acceptance rate by year
| CDS year | Applied | Admitted | Acceptance rate | Enrolled | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 6,796 | 1,480 | 21.8% | 518 | 35.0% |
| 2024-25 | 7,133 | 1,456 | 20.4% | 507 | 34.8% |
| 2023-24 | 6,464 | 1,440 | 22.3% | 538 | 37.4% |
Acceptance rate is admitted divided by applied; yield is enrolled divided by admitted. Both are computed by Aristo Scholars from the two counts printed beside them.
Early decision at Carleton
Carleton waitlist
Carleton SAT and ACT scores
What Carleton says matters in admission
In section C7 each college rates its own admission factors as Very Important, Important, Considered or Not Considered. These are the factors Carleton rated in the top two tiers.
- 2025-26
- Very important: Rigor of secondary school record, Class rank, Academic GPA, Application essay, Recommendations, Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Character/personal qualities
- Important: None recorded
- 2024-25
- Very important: Rigor of secondary school record, Class rank, Academic GPA, Application essay, Recommendations, Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Character/personal qualities
- Important: None recorded
- 2023-24
- Very important: Rigor of secondary school record, Class rank, Academic GPA, Recommendations, Application essay, Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Character/personal qualities
- Important: None recorded
Carleton testing policy for students applying in 2026-27
Test optional, permanently, as of 2025 for all applicants. SAT and ACT are not required but may be submitted, and submitted scores are reviewed holistically. Self-reported scores are accepted; enrolling students must send official reports later. TOEFL, IELTS or DET is required when English is not the primary language of instruction.
From Carleton’s admissions site, read 2026-11-05. Policies change; the college’s page is the authority.
How these numbers were read
This is Carleton College in Minnesota.
Carleton acceptance rate questions
- What is the Carleton acceptance rate?
- Carleton's Common Data Set for 2025-26 reports 6,796 first-year applicants and 1,480 admitted, an acceptance rate of 21.8%. It was 20.4% in 2024-25 and 22.3% in 2023-24.
- What is the Carleton early decision acceptance rate?
- In 2025-26, 263 of 760 early decision applicants were admitted (34.6%), against 21.8% of all applicants. Early decision applicants are a different pool who commit to enroll, so the two rates are not a like-for-like comparison.
- What SAT scores do Carleton students have?
- In 2025-26, the middle half of enrolled first-year students who submitted the SAT scored 1460 to 1530, and ACT submitters scored 32 to 35. 39.4% of enrolled students submitted an SAT score.
- How many students get off the Carleton waitlist?
- In 2025-26, Carleton offered 675 applicants a place on the waitlist; 335 accepted one, and 33 were admitted from it.
- Does Carleton require the SAT or ACT for students applying in 2026-27?
- Test optional, permanently, as of 2025 for all applicants. SAT and ACT are not required but may be submitted, and submitted scores are reviewed holistically. Self-reported scores are accepted; enrolling students must send official reports later. TOEFL, IELTS or DET is required when English is not the primary language of instruction.
Applying to Carleton?
An acceptance rate describes the whole pool, not one student. A Specialist can read your student’s file against what Carleton says it weighs.
Source: Carleton Common Data Set, sections C1, C2, C7, C9 and C21, each year linked above, read 2026-11-05. Aristo Scholars is not affiliated with Carleton. All official acceptance rates