The admissions office's goal is to admit students who can thrive at St. Olaf, both academically and personally, and to admit students who will contribute something to all areas of the community.
Every application is read once by a counselor and again by our admissions committee.
We are a need blind institution. A family's ability to pay has no bearing on a student's admissibility. While application review certainly has quantitative components, like high school grade point average and standardized test scores, we also consider significant qualitative factors, such as the breadth and depth of a student's academic interests or qualities of leadership. If you are interested in some historical information on admitted and enrolled students in recent years, please reference the Profile page. Given that academics are the core component of the St. Olaf education, our primary focus is on a student's ability to succeed in the classroom.