On Monday, March 17, Carleton accepted the remainder of the class of 2027 through the regular decision admissions cycle. Although not all admitted students will attend Carleton, this signifies the end of the school’s admissions process.
Carleton’s admissions team reviewed 6,465 applications, and admissions offers were extended to 1,406 students across all rounds of applications (early decision, early decision II and regular decision). This makes Carleton’s 2027 acceptance rate 21.7%.
Given that the class of 2026 is 535 students, this potentially indicates that Carleton admissions are expecting about 30-40% of the prospective class to ultimately enroll at Carleton, which is consistent with past years.
The 6,465 applications represent a nearly 25% decrease from last year’s historic 8,583. However, all colleges are expected to see some drop in their application numbers this year. In October 2022, the U.S. Department of Education mandated that colleges cannot count incomplete applications in data collection, which college have done in previous years.
However, the class still has an impressive résumé. 78% of the admitted class was in the top 10% of their high school class; last year, it was 82%. In addition, more students submitted test scores than in previous years, with 62% opting in despite the test-optional policy. Of the students who decided to submit their scores, the average SAT was around 1493.9 (English/Reading was 739.6 and Math 754.3), and the ACT composite score was 33.1, putting students in the 99th and 98th percentiles for the tests, respectively. The college has not announced whether — or for how long — it will continue making scores optional.
This year, 46% of admits identify as students of color. Of that 46%, 2% were Native American, 11% Hispanic/Latino, 12% Black/African American and 24% Asian/Pacific Islander. Within those groups, the largest increase was from 22% to 24% identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander. However, the makeup of the class of 2027 is unknown until students accept their offers of admission.
Socioeconomically, 18% of all admitted students qualify for a Pell Grant — a 2% rise from the class of 2026.
Prospective students could be moving to Northfield from a wide array of places. 49 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and Washington D.C., were represented, the top five most represented being Minnesota, California, Illinois, Texas and New York. In addition, students attended international high schools in 55 countries; the top five most represented countries outside the U.S. are China, Brazil, India, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Admitted students have until May 1 to decide if they will choose Carleton. The admissions team hosted the first Admitted Student Experience on April 14 and will host another on April 21 to show prospective students the school. The day includes various ways to get to know Carleton. Students can explore Carleton with walking tours of the campus and Arb, eat lunch with current students, attend convocation with Gaelynn Lea or Sarah Lockwood, sit in on classes, attend the Academic and Resources Fair to explore their academic interests and hear from the Career Center, Dean of Admissions or current students on various panels. For students who can’t be on campus those days, tours and information sessions are available until the end of April.
Finally, there are several virtual ways to learn about Carleton, financial aid, international student life and diversity. See this link for more information on all admitted student events.
