Claremont McKenna College
Claremont McKenna College is a small private liberal arts college in Claremont, California, and a member of the five-college Claremont Consortium, distinctive for its focus on economics, government, and public affairs and its applied research institutes. Admission is highly selective: CMC admitted about 9.4% of nearly 6,900 applicants for its most recent class, and enrolled first-years posted middle-50% SAT scores of 1480–1540 and ACT scores of 33–35. The social sciences dominate the curriculum, accounting for more than 40% of bachelor's degrees, and the college enrolls roughly 1,380 undergraduates with an 8-to-1 student-faculty ratio. CMC is test-optional and meets 100% of demonstrated financial need, with a typical need-based package near $70,000.
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Claremont McKenna admissions statistics
Acceptance rate
Total applicants, admitted students, and enrolled students for the most recent admission cycle.
Early decision
Claremont McKenna offers binding Early Decision. Applying early can meaningfully change your odds — but ED commits you to enroll if admitted.
Admit rate by application plan
% admitted~3.0× higher admit rate applying early.
Standardized tests
Claremont McKenna is currently test-optional — you may apply without submitting scores.
SAT Accepted?
ACT Accepted?
Test Optional?
SAT Scores
ACT Scores
Claremont McKenna supplemental essays — 2026-2027 cycle
CMC’s mission is to prepare students for thoughtful and productive lives and responsible leadership in business, government, and the professions. With this mission in mind, please explain why you want to attend Claremont McKenna College.
A critical part of fulfilling our mission is living out the commitments of CMC’s Open Academy: Freedom of Expression, Viewpoint Diversity, and Constructive Dialogue. We want to learn more about your commitment to listening and learning from others with different viewpoints, perspectives, and life experiences from your own. Describe a time when engaging with someone about a specific topic resulted in you changing your attitude, belief, or behavior, or you changed the belief or behavior of someone else. What was the change that occurred for you, and what facilitated that change? What did you learn from that experience, and how has it informed how you engage with others?
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Class rank
Where Claremont McKenna's enrolled first-years placed in their high school graduating class.
Based on the 15% of enrolled students who reported a class rank. Claremont McKenna does not publish an average GPA.
Admissions factors
How Claremont McKenna weighs each part of your application.
Rigor of High School Record
Academic GPA
Standardized Test Scores
Application Essay
Recommendations
Extracurricular Activities
Character / Personal Qualities
Talent / Ability
First Generation
Level of Applicant's Interest
Class Rank
Volunteer Work
Work Experience
Geographical Residence
State Residency
Alumni Relation
Racial / Ethnic Status
Religious Affiliation
Cost of attendance
Estimated full-time annual cost from Claremont McKenna's Common Data Set.
Private universities charge the same tuition regardless of state residency. Books and personal expenses aren't itemized in this Common Data Set.
Financial aid
Need-based aid statistics for full-time first-year students.
Frequently asked questions about Claremont McKenna admissions
Yes — CMC is highly selective, admitting about 9.4% of applicants in the most recent cycle. The college offered admission to roughly 655 of nearly 6,900 applicants and enrolled about 335 first-year students. Rigor of course load, GPA, the application essay, recommendations, and extracurriculars are all weighed as very important factors in its holistic review.
CMC's binding Early Decision rounds are admitted at a noticeably higher rate than the 9.4% overall figure. Early Decision I and II together drew 978 applications and admitted 216 — about a 22% early admit rate, well above the overall rate. CMC offers ED I (closing November 1) and ED II (closing January 10) but no Early Action plan.
No. CMC is test-optional, so you may apply without submitting scores. Among enrolled first-years who did submit, the middle 50% scored 1480–1540 on the SAT and 33–35 on the ACT, and standardized test scores are only "considered" rather than a very important factor.
A 1500 is competitive — it sits right at the median for enrolled students. The middle 50% of enrolled first-years scored between 1480 and 1540 on the SAT (33–35 on the ACT), with the 50th percentile at 1510. Because CMC is test-optional, a strong score helps but is weighed only as a "considered" factor behind GPA, rigor, and essays.
CMC does not publish an average high school GPA, citing the difficulty of standardizing GPAs across its large international applicant pool. It does report class rank: among the 15% of enrolled first-years who submitted one, about 64% were in the top tenth of their class and 94% in the top quarter. The rigor of your course load and overall academic record are weighed as very important factors.
Tuition and required fees run about $67,980 per year, with on-campus food and housing adding roughly $20,830. CMC meets 100% of demonstrated financial need; about 39% of undergraduates receive need-based aid, with an average need-based package near $69,932.
The social sciences — including CMC's signature economics and government programs — are by far the most popular area, accounting for about 42% of bachelor's degrees. Interdisciplinary studies (12%), psychology, the biological sciences, and economics-and-business programs round out the most-conferred fields.
Yes. CMC rates the application essay as a very important factor in its holistic review, on par with GPA, course rigor, recommendations, and extracurriculars — and above standardized test scores, which are only "considered." With a 9.4% admit rate, a specific, well-revised essay is one of the clearest ways a strong applicant can stand out.
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Popular majors
Bachelor's degrees awarded in the past year by academic major.
Student-faculty ratio
The number of students for every one faculty member, indicating the average level of access students have to instructional staff.
Campus life
On-campus housing and Greek life participation rates.
Enrollment by gender
Student diversity
Racial and ethnic breakdown of enrolled undergraduate students.
Source: Claremont McKenna College Common Data Set 2025-2026. Figures transcribed 2026-06-08. In-State Cost is from the 2023-2024 edition. Esslo aggregates publicly reported data and is not affiliated with Claremont McKenna. Banner photo by Victoire Chalupy, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Cite this page as: Esslo College Explorer, “Claremont McKenna College admissions statistics, transcribed from the 2025-2026 Common Data Set,” https://www.esslo.org/colleges/claremont-mckenna (retrieved 2026-06-08).