U.S. First-Year Applicants

At commonapp.org you can create an account. There are many resources to help you in your application process – including an Application Guide for First-Year Students. To secure eligibility for financial aid, students should express their interest during the application process, as financial aid cannot be awarded after an offer of admission has been made.

If you are applying through Early Decision, the Early Decision Agreement confirms that Macalester is your top-choice college. By signing, you commit to enrolling at Macalester if admitted and agree to withdraw all other college applications. More about Early Decision

Request that your secondary school(s) send Macalester official transcript(s) of all classes and grades beginning with 9th grade through junior year.

Required: Two recommendation letters

• One recommendation letter from a counselor or school official
• One recommendation letter from a teacher – An evaluation from a teacher in one of the core academic subjects (English, social studies, world language, mathematics, or science).

Early Decision and Early Action applicants must self-report in-progress senior grades using the In-Progress Grades form in your portal checklist. Grades must be submitted between the following dates:

• ED I between November 1 and November 18 
• EA between November 1 and December 5
• ED II between January 1 and January 16

Regular Decision applicants must request that a school official (counselor or registrar) send us an updated transcript by February 15 if senior year first-term grades are not on the initial transcript. If an updated transcript is not available before February 15, please contact admissions@macalester.edu. 

Macalester follows a Test-Optional admissions policy. Applicants can choose to submit ACT, SAT, AP, and IB exam scores as part of their application. 

Regardless of the presence of test scores, all applicants receive equal consideration for admission and scholarship opportunities. Choosing not to submit test scores will not disadvantage you in our selection process. 

Applicants who submit test scores to our office may self-report them through the Common Application, submit them to admissions@macalester.edu, or request that official scores be sent to Macalester. Macalester’s testing codes are 2122 for the ACT and 6390 for the SAT.

View the Test Policy for more details and data about how the Admissions Office uses testing in the selection process. 

If you have made a substantial commitment to the arts in the areas of fine arts, music, theater or dance, you are welcome to submit samples in your Macalester Applicant Portal after Macalester has received your application.

Macalester interviews are offered to applicants who have begun their application process. Interviews are reserved for domestic applicants who are rising seniors, seniors, or prospective transfer students.

Admissions interviews at Macalester are optional and not required. Your interview will be part of your application file, so it’s an opportunity to share or address anything you’d like included in your application.

All interviews are conducted by a Macalester staff member and are only offered virtually.

Interviews for rising seniors begin on August 1. Seniors who wish to interview must do so by February 1 of their senior year. Transfer students must request an interview by April 15. Each student may only interview once and interviews are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Learn more or schedule your interview here.

Applicants are only required and encouraged to submit the two required recommendations. However, if you wish to have an additional letter of support, we ask that you choose carefully to ensure that the additional recommendation provides a new perspective not already present in your application.

Macalester Admissions practices holistic admission review. Factors including academic performance in context, recommendation letters, essays, leadership experience and potential, and extracurricular involvement are thoroughly reviewed by the Admissions Committee. 

The most important part of your application is something you’ve already been working on throughout high school: your academic performance! It is this performance that is the best predictor of success in college and the most important factor in our application review process.

The best preparation for the rigor and depth of the college academic experience is strong performance in a balanced and rigorous high school curriculum. You should focus your coursework in all five academic core subjects: English, mathematics, history or social science, laboratory science, and world language. 

Be sure to challenge yourself by taking the advanced curriculum available at your school. Some examples include Honors classes, Advanced Placement (AP), and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. Most Macalester applicants will complete at least 20 academic core courses by the time they graduate high school.

Macalester follows a Test-Optional admissions policy. Applicants can choose to submit ACT, SAT, AP, and IB exam scores as part of their application. 

Regardless of the presence of test scores, all applicants receive equal consideration for admission and scholarship opportunities. Choosing not to submit test scores will not disadvantage you in our selection process. 

Applicants who submit test scores to our office may self-report them through the Common Application, submit them to admissions@macalester.edu, or request that official scores be sent to Macalester. Macalester’s testing codes are 2122 for the ACT and 6390 for the SAT.

View the Test Policy for more details and data about how the Admissions Office uses testing in the selection process. 

The grading and ranking policies of school systems around the country and around the world vary significantly. Accordingly, the Macalester Admissions committee reviews an applicant’s high school record in the context of their individual school rather than requiring a minimum GPA, class rank or test score in order to be considered. 

We also recognize that many schools do not report a GPA or rank in class and in those cases that information is not required. Whatever the context for an individual student, we look for evidence that the applicant has performed at a very high level academically and has pursued a rigorous and well-rounded curriculum. 

The Macalester member section has two optional essay prompts specific to Macalester.

1. “Macalester is one of few highly selective liberal arts colleges located in the middle of a metropolitan area. Students benefit from the strong sense of community on campus and opportunities to engage in academic, social, and civic engagement options in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Have you thought about how Macalester’s location might impact your experience? If so, in what ways?”
2. “Four values permeate Macalester’s mission and purpose: academic distinction, internationalism, multiculturalism, and service to society. Guided by this mission, Macalester is a learning environment that affirms different identities and experiences and prepares graduates to work toward a more just and peaceful world. In what ways do your lived experiences, perspectives, or hopes for your college education connect with Macalester’s mission/learning environment?”

Yes! Macalester College will accept a maximum of 32 semester credits earned prior to matriculation. College/university credits, summer-session college credits, credits earned through a post-secondary education program, College Board Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and GCE A- Levels are included in this 32-credit maximum. College/university courses will be evaluated once an official transcript is sent to Macalester directly by the sponsoring college/university. Transcripts are required for credit evaluation and transfer of credit. Please arrange for them to be mailed to the address below, or sent via secure electronic transmission to Macalester College.

We believe AI can be a helpful tool in the writing process. Like any form of application assistance, we encourage students to use it responsibly. If you decide to utilize programs like ChatGPT, treat them like a teacher—AI can help edit or organize pre-existing ideas, but ultimately, your writing should be your own. AI usage becomes problematic when it creates rather than refines text. A copy-and-paste approach hinders your development as a writer, and if you were to use this method as a Mac student, you’d be in likely violation of academic integrity policies on campus. 

Similarly, AI struggles to fulfill the essay’s core purpose: showcasing student personality. We walk away from the best essays feeling like we got to know you. Tools like ChatGPT, which produce generic, unimaginative writing, often sanitize the student voice we’re looking for. Your perspective matters more than anything else in this process–and as long as you’re being your authentic self, we know you can write an essay we’ll love to read.

Macalester is a highly selective liberal arts college and our applicant pool has continued to grow in recent years. In a typical admissions cycle, Macalester seeks to enroll 545 incoming first-year students. For Fall 2024 entry, 8,964 students applied for entry as first-year students and 28% of applicants were admitted.

Additional information on our application rounds and structure, helpful dates, details, and descriptions can be found here.

Macalester interviews are offered to applicants who have begun their application process. Interviews are reserved for domestic applicants who are rising seniors, seniors, or prospective transfer students. Admissions interviews at Macalester are recommended, but not required. Interviews are conducted online by Admissions staff members and usually take 30 minutes. Seniors who wish to interview must do so by February 1 of their senior year and each student may only interview once. 

We view the college interview as an opportunity to learn more about the experiences, backgrounds, interests, and fantastic personalities of high school students. We also want the interview to be a time in which students can learn more about Macalester. During interviews, students can expect to be asked questions about their high school environment, extracurricular activities, and other interests. Students will also have time to ask their own questions about the Mac community. In the end, our hope is that each interview is more like a conversation over virtual coffee than a job interview.

Find more information about the interview process and timeline here.

Good question! The Common Application includes a section for ‘Additional Information’ that provides an open text box that allows you to inform all of your college options about any additional context, information or updates that you would like to provide. Many applicants utilize that space to share information they believe to be essential to their application. The additional information box is a great place for context and stories that may not fit neatly into another section of the application. 

Additionally, Macalester encourages all applicants to reach out directly to their Admissions representative with any questions or updates as they navigate the application process. Our Admissions counselors and traveling staff are always happy to connect on the phone or via email. 

Congratulations on starting your search early! Our biggest piece of advice is a simple one – there is no one ‘correct’ way to navigate the college search process. Our Admissions team encourages you to continue to pursue the academic and extracurricular opportunities that interest you most while still leaving room for exploration. Continue your involvement in courses and extracurriculars you care about and be willing to step out of your comfort zone, too! 

As you pivot toward thinking about college, keep an open mind and start thinking about what your priorities (college size, setting, particular majors or extracurriculars, etc.) are for your next community. After you have identified what institutions might work well for you, then connect with the staff and students at those colleges to get a taste of the college experience before narrowing down a list. If Macalester is on your list – and we certainly hope it is! – our one-stop-shop for programming and visit opportunities can be found here.