Admissions & selectivity
Claremont McKenna College Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Claremont McKenna College?
Claremont McKenna College’s reported acceptance rate is 9.6%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 9.6%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
Source: Claremont McKenna College Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Claremont McKenna College admits 9.6% of applicants, a rate far below the median of 75.7% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 6,939 applicants and 655 admitted students, with 335 enrolling.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled Claremont McKenna College students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that enrolled first-year students who submitted SAT scores fell between 1480 and 1540, with a median of 1510. 34% of the entering class submitted SAT scores.
For the 14% of enrolled students who submitted ACT scores, the middle half ranged from 33 to 35, with a median of 34. Among enrolled first-year students with a reported class rank, 64% placed in the highest tenth of their high-school class and 94% in the highest quarter.
These ranges describe enrolled students who submitted scores, not admission cutoffs, and a low submitter share means the figures reflect only a portion of the class.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Claremont McKenna College. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
34% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1480
- Median
- 1510
- 75th percentile
- 1540
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
14% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 33
- Median
- 34
- 75th percentile
- 35
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: Claremont McKenna College Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at Claremont McKenna College?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 18.1%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 3.7%
- First-year retention
- 98.1%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
Claremont McKenna College is a small private nonprofit university enrolling 1,388 undergraduates. The student body is drawn overwhelmingly from first-time entrants: an estimated 3.7% arrive as transfers or part-time students, and 18.1% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 6,939 first-year applicants, 655 admitted, and 335 enrolled. Transfer admission is a narrower path: 307 applied, 25 were admitted, and 14 enrolled.
Students who start at Claremont McKenna College tend to stay and finish. The first-year retention rate is 98.1%, well above the peer median of 74.2% for comparable institutions.
The six-year graduation rate is 91.4%, also exceeding the peer median of 54.9%. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported a retention rate of 98% for the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class. Enrolled students can expect high rates of persistence and degree completion.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.