Carleton College may not have the same name recognition as other elite liberal arts colleges, but it certainly has a highly selective admissions process. What does this Northfield, Minnestoa-based private college hold for applicants to the Class of 2030? Is having a high GPA a prerequisite for admission?

For the Carleton College Class of 2028, an impressive 63% of students graduated in the top tenth of their high school’s graduating class. But grades aren’t the only ingredient in the Carleton admissions office formula. What kind of GPA does a student need when applying to Carleton College? Let’s take a close look at the data over the past three admissions cycles.

Carleton College Admissions Rate

Let’s ground this discussion with the Carleton College acceptance rate. For applicants to Carleton College’s Class of 2029, 20% earned admission. The year prior, for the Class of 2028, this number was 18%. For the Class of 2027, 21.7% of students saw their dreams of joining Carleton’s charming campus come true. With 4 out of 5 applicants routinely getting rejected, what sets apart those who get in?

What is a Good GPA for Getting into Carleton College?

The following is the class rank breakdown of Carleton’s Class of 2028 members, as reported in Carleton’s 2024-25 Common Data Set. Unfortunately, Carleton hasn’t reported any GPA data for recently admitted cohorts, so the class rank data below is the closest to gauging the GPA requirements for admission in Carleton’s competitive admissions process.

Assessment	Percent
Percent in top tenth of high school graduating class	63%
Percent in top quarter of high school graduating class	93%
Percent in top half of high school graduating class	99%
Percent in bottom half of high school graduating class	1%
Percent of total first-time, first-year (freshman) students who submitted high school class rank:	29%

GPA Percentage of Carleton College’s Class of 2027

The following is the class rank breakdown of the members of Carleton College’s Class of 2027:

Assessment	Percent
Percent in top tenth of high school graduating class	64.9%
Percent in top quarter of high school graduating class	90.6%
Percent in top half of high school graduating class	100%
Percent of total first-time, first-year (freshman) students who submitted high school class rank:	31.8%

GPA Percentage of Carleton College’s Class of 2026

The following is the class rank breakdown of the members of Carleton College’s Class of 2026:

Assessment	Percent
Percent in top tenth of high school graduating class	75.2%
Percent in top quarter of high school graduating class	94.1%
Percent in top half of high school graduating class	98.8%
Percent in bottom half of high school graduating class	1.2
Percent of total first-time, first-year (freshman) students who submitted high school class rank:	31.7%

Further Context on GPAs of Carleton College Students

While we await the official data for the Classes of 2030 and 2029, it’s safe to assume that most of those who secure a spot at Carleton boast impressive academic records, often (though not always) with 4.0 GPAs. We at Ivy Coach would confidently speculate that all Carleton admits to the Class of 2029 had a GPA above 2.0, with approximately 90% exceeding 3.2.

However, Carleton also routinely rejects applicants with perfect grades, so we decline to answer parents who are overly enthusiastic and share their child’s GPA during complimentary consultations with Ivy Coach with the intention of ascertaining their child’s chances of getting into Carleton. Without context, including the high school attended, the rigor of the student’s coursework, their extracurriculars, essays, letters of recommendation, etc., your child’s GPA alone cannot determine their admissions odds (and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!).

Carleton considers several holistic criteria when splitting hairs between high achieving students, because there are, after all, plenty of dull students out there with perfect grades!

Can You Get into Carleton with a Low GPA?

Let’s back up for a second. While it may seem improbable, it is indeed possible to gain admission to Carleton College with a less-than-stellar GPA. It’s important to remember that many students accepted without exceptional grades have statuses that merit special consideration. Carleton is willing to turn a blind eye to poor grades for a star athlete or a student with parents who are major donors (lest we forget Carleton has a bottom line to serve!). And in any event, the data suggest that Carleton isn’t quite as exacting when it comes to applicant GPA as other schools of its caliber.

How Ivy Coach Can Gauge Your Child’s Chances at Carleton College

If you want to optimize your child’s odds of getting into Carleton College, waste no time before signing up for Ivy Coach’s Strategy Session. Not only will you find out if your child can get into Carleton College, but you’ll come away with a game plan of how your child can optimize their admission to the best school within reach. To learn more about Ivy Coach’s Strategy Session, fill out our complimentary consultation form, and we’ll contact you.