Start your application
The Common Application is now open for the 2025-2026 academic year. If you’re considering Macalester, start with our Preliminary Application to get updates, track progress, and access your applicant portal.
Admissions & Aid
At Macalester, our mission is to prepare students for lives of meaning and purpose. Students here receive unparalleled support and mentorship as they discover their place in the world and learn how to become agents of change.
APPLYING TO MACALESTER
Request Information
Ready to hear more about our college in the city, our leading academics program, or Mac’s commitment to internationalism and multiculturalism? Start here and let’s keep in touch.
Visit and Connect
Take a look at the many ways to learn about Macalester and engage with the Mac community. On-campus and virtual options are all available for high school students and families. We can’t wait to meet you!
Visit Macalester
Learn more about our College in the City
Explore our neighborhood campus, and step inside the buildings that will support your learning. Take a virtual tour any time, or join our staff and students for online information sessions, tours, and workshops.
Financial Aid
Many students and families are surprised at the different ways to make college more affordable. We meet 100% of the full demonstrated need of every student we admit, and all first-year applicants are considered for merit-based scholarships.
Students at Macalester
If you’re motivated and ambitious, Macalester might be the right fit for you. Create the next innovation. Sharpen your perspective. Transform your worldview. Macalester students come from across the U.S. and around the world.
2,000+
Student body
108
Countries represented
60%
Students who study away
Find 39 majors and a world of opportunity
A liberal arts and sciences education at Macalester prepares students to think critically and creatively, solving problems in their local, national, and global communities. Learn more about our majors, minors, and concentrations.
A Day in the Life
Bianca Gonzalez
See campus life from Bianca’s perspective.
A Day in the Life
Bianca Gonzalez
See campus life from Bianca’s perspective.