Figure 1: Total students applied to Carleton College versus total students admitted to Carleton College from the 1999-2000 admission cycle to the 2023-2024 admission cycle.
2021-22 (Class of 2025):
We then analyzed the spike following the COVID admissions cycle.
- Spike in applicants during 2021-22 cycle, 14.4% increase from the previous year.
- Application process became test-optional nationwide which caused number of applicants across the country to spike.
- Students who took a gap year due to COVID applied during this admissions cycle.
- “Admissions officer Alex Cardenas hypothesizes that the large class size is due to both the high number of gap-year students, with 57 incoming first-years having taken one or two gap years, and the notably small size of last year’s class, with only 459 admissions. Cardenas explained that “the class of 2024 was super small in part because many students chose to defer their acceptance or take gap years. Our international applicant pool was also a lot smaller than usual because of the pandemic. This year, hoping to return to pre-pandemic enrollment numbers, our target for admission was 545 students” (Quast, Class of 2025 Profile – The Carletonian).