How to Get Into Middlebury: Acceptance Rate & Strategies

July 31, 2025

Situated in scenic Addison County, Vermont, Middlebury College is consistently ranked as one of the top 10 liberal arts schools in the United States. While not quite as selective as the likes of Amherst, Swarthmore, or Bowdoin, Middlebury has extremely high standards for prospective applicants and rejects about 90% of those who apply. Middlebury has always been a selective institution, but the acceptance rate has dropped to new lows in recent years.

To give future Middlebury applicants a better sense of their admissions chances, this blog will cover the following topics:

Middlebury College’s Class of 2029 acceptance rate (plus how to predict your chances with our free admissions calculator)
Middlebury College’s 2029 Early Decision acceptance rate
SAT/ACT score range of accepted Middlebury College applicants
Middlebury admissions trends
Middlebury’s system for rating applicants
A look at the demographics of current Middlebury College undergraduates
The percentage of accepted students who attend Middlebury College (yield rate)
Tips for applying to Middlebury College
How to assess whether applying to Middlebury College is even worth the $75 application fee (for you)

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Middlebury College Acceptance Rate – Class of 2029

Though the official numbers haven’t been released, Middlebury recently announced that 11,831 students applied for the Class of 2029. Of those Middlebury-hopefuls, 1,655 were accepted. This translates to an overall Middlebury acceptance rate of just 14%. While this rate is higher than the past few years, it’s still half of what it was five years ago.

Historical Middlebury acceptance rates are as follows:

	Applicants	Admits	Acceptance Rate
Class of 2028	12,540	1,348	10.7%
Class of 2027	13,297	1,379	10%
Class of 2026	12,952	1,644	13%
Class of 2025	11,906	1,601	13%
Class of 2024	9,174	2,022	22%

Middlebury College Early Decision Acceptance Rate — Class of 2029

Though the official numbers aren’t out yet, Middlebury announced that it had admitted 519 students via ED 1 and ED 2. If the application numbers stay relatively stable, this means that Middlebuy’s ED admit rate is likely above 30% — more than double the rate of the regular round.

What is the minimum SAT or ACT score for Middlebury?

Middlebury was test-optional for the Class of 2027; 42% of enrolled students chose to submit test scores. Within that group, the mid-50% range was 1440-1530 on the SAT and 33-34 on the SAT.

Admissions Trends & Notes – Class of 2029

Though lower than last year, the number of applications is still up 31% since 2020.
Middlebury’s acceptance rate has dropped over 10 percentage points since 2020.
The admitted Class of 2029 comes from 1,112 high schools around the world.
18% of Class of 2029 admitted students are first-generation.
The average financial award for eligible students was $60,000.

How Middlebury College Rates Applicants

Middlebury uses a truly holistic admissions process and lists six factors as “very important” to their unique evaluation process: rigor of high school course load, class rank, GPA, extracurricular activities, talent/ability, and character/personal qualities. The three factors labeled as “important” are the application essays, recommendations, and standardized test scores.

Straight from the Middlebury admissions office:

“We strive to understand our applicants in the fullest sense of who they are—in school, in their community, and as part of their family. Our admissions process is a holistic one in which we weigh multiple factors beyond test scores and grades. Your personal essay, teacher recommendations, cocurricular activities, individual background and story, and unique characteristics are all important to us.”
“Middlebury’s admissions decisions are based on high school records, recommendations, activities and interests, and student writing. Most students rank in the top 10 percent of their high school classes and challenge themselves with rigorous course loads and a commitment to non-academic interests.”

Who Actually Gets Into Middlebury?

Let’s look at the demographics of the Middlebury College undergraduate student body. Historically, the following are the U.S. states that saw the greatest number of applicants accepted into Middlebury:

New York
California
Massachusetts
Vermont
Illinois

15% of students enrolled in the Class of 2028 are international students. Historically, the greatest percentage of international students come from the following countries:

China
Canada
India
Singapore

In terms of ethnic identity, the breakdown of the Class of 2028 was as follows:

White: 56%
Asian: 6.5%
Hispanic: 12%
Black or African American: 3%
Two or More Races: 6%

A look at the gender split reveals that the Class of 2028 enrolled a greater number of women than men on campus:

Men: 45%
Women: 55%

Middlebury College’s Yield Rate

Middlebury College’s yield rate—the percentage of accepted students who elect to enroll, divided by the total number of students who are admitted—is 44%. This is about fifteen points higher than it was three years ago. This rate now places Middlebury on even footing with other top liberal arts schools like Williams College (47%), Pomona College (50%), and Swarthmore College (42%).

Tips for Applying to Middlebury College

If you plan on joining the almost 13,000 Middlebury College hopefuls for the next admissions cycle, you should know the following:

Middlebury will be test-optional for the 2025-26 cycle.
If Middlebury is your top choice, you’ll want to strongly consider applying ED I by November 3 or ED II by early January. The Regular Decision deadline falls in the first week of January, but the acceptance rates are significantly higher in this round.
Middlebury does recommend that students sit for an evaluative alumni interview. However, they are space-limited and no on-campus interviews are available.
Your counselor and teacher recommendations will be key at Middlebury. Visit our blog for tips on requesting high school letters of recommendation.
Middlebury College does consider “demonstrated interest” so they may be examining whether or not you made a campus visit, contacted an admissions officer, followed them on social media, etc.
You’ll need to submit a Mid-Year Report in late February so remember to keep those grades up throughout your senior year of high school.
Make sure to dedicate sufficient time and effort to the Common App essay when working on your Middlebury application. In the 2025-26 cycle, there were no supplemental essays offered by the college, a rarity among highly selective schools.

Should I Apply to Middlebury?

Virtually every successful applicant to Middlebury finished at or near the top of their high school class and can claim many special talents both inside and outside of the classroom. If you have a high GPA in a rigorous curriculum and standardized test scores in the 99th percentile, this institution could be within your reach—particularly if you are willing to apply early decision.

Middlebury Acceptance Rate — Final Thoughts

Given the almost single-digit acceptance rate, any student applying to a school of Middlebury College’s caliber also needs to also have a proper mix of “target” and “safety” schools on their college list. More on creating a balanced college list can be found here.

Ready to start building your college applications? Consider checking out the following:

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College Admissions

Dave Bergman

Dave has over a decade of professional experience that includes work as a teacher, high school administrator, college professor, and independent educational consultant. He is a co-author of the books The Enlightened College Applicant (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) and Colleges Worth Your Money (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).