Frequently Asked Questions about How We Determine College of Admissions

How do you determine the college of admission?

The information you provided in your application was carefully taken into consideration when we completed our review of your application—including first-choice college, alternate college of interest, and indicated majors of interest.

We considered you for admission for the colleges selected on your application. If we are unable to admit you to one of the colleges listed, you are automatically considered for admission to all other U of M colleges that are a good fit with your academic interests and preparation and other information you provided. Our admissions decisions are based on a comprehensive, individualized review of your application, the overall strength of all the applications received, and the number of spaces available in each of the University's freshman-admitting colleges.

Our programs offer an array of exceptional majors, which you will find listed at majors.umn.edu


How do you select students for admission?

Students admitted to the University are selected from a highly competitive group of applicants with extraordinary academic and extracurricular achievements, based on a very careful, individualized review of each student's application. The University admits students directly to a freshman-admitting college, based on the student's choices as indicated in the application, the student's academic preparation, and the additional information included in the student's application materials. Students admitted to the University have not only demonstrated the preparation necessary for success at the University, but have demonstrated the ability to take full advantage of the unique and significant opportunities we offer undergraduate students.


College-by-College Admission 

Competitive Admission Rate

Admission to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities is highly competitive. For example, for Fall 2022 admission, we received more than 37,000 applications for a freshman class of approximately 6,700 students. While we were very grateful for the strong interest in the University of Minnesota, the number of applications submitted and the strength of the applicant pool has created a competitive admissions situation.

Please note, for Fall 2022, due to a significant increase in the number of highly competitive applications for the School of Nursing, admission to the nursing program was especially competitive.