Applying to McDaniel

First year students who reside outside Maryland should use The Common Application.

First year students who are Maryland residents may use either The Common Application or The Maryland Application.

If you’ve already started, click here for instructions on retrieving your saved application.

All transfer students regardless of residency should use The Common Application for Transfer Admission.

There are different processes for applying to McDaniel as a first year student or a transfer student. First year students have the option of choosing from five separate deadlines for submitting your application and complete credentials, guaranteeing you an admission decision and a scholarship decision within three weeks of the date you select.  Applicants can also choose to submit a financial aid early estimator and receive an estimated financial aid package.  Best of all, there is no obligation to deposit before May 1st. If you know McDaniel is your top choice, you can deposit promptly and enjoy the rest of your senior year, or take all the time you need to make a good decision.

Transfer student deadlines are December 15th for the Spring semester and April 1st for the Fall semester. Admission and scholarship decisions follow within a month of either deadline. Transfer students wishing to apply for need-based financial aid should submit the FAFSA rather than an estimator.

Pick the deadline that works best for you, and be sure that you notify the Admissions Office of your choice. Look for a confirmation email once you have submitted your application asking you to verify the deadline you are requesting (or to provide one if you haven't already).

A completed application for first year students includes:

• Submission of The Common Application or The Maryland Application (for Maryland residents only) with an essay. (Topics for both application essays can be found on The Common Application, or by accessing our topics page)
• Your official high school transcript through junior year at minimum; please include any senior grades if available.
• Two letters of recommendation to the admissions office.
• SAT or ACT scores. The SAT school code is 5898 and the ACT school code is 1756. McDaniel College continues to take the highest critical reading and highest math scores from multiple test dates on the SAT or your highest composite score from multiple ACT dates. We want standardized testing to work for you, not against you, and therefore will consider all scores or only scores which you feel comfortable sending. We will not use the writing score on the SAT as part of our admissions evaluation, but instead will continue to require an essay. Scores will be considered official if they are sent by the high school guidance office or testing service. Or you may be eligible to use our SAT Optional program...
• A $50 nonrefundable fee is required (unless you visited campus prior to submitting this application). If you file your Common Application electronically and you qualify for a fee waiver, please select "Mailed Fee Waiver Request" in the Signature and Payment field. If you do not qualify for a fee waiver, you must submit the $50 fee to  the admissions office. We can’t process your application until we receive your payment.

All application materials may be submitted online or by regular mail – choose the option you prefer.

Once we receive all your credentials, we will include your application for review at the next available deadline.  It is important to note that we will only review your application in one round of admission and scholarship consideration, so the deadline you choose should reflect the final credentials you intend to submit for scholarship purposes.  For example, if you have additional standardized test taking planned and you want your latest scores to be considered, or you believe your senior fall semester grades should be a critical part of your record, you should wait to apply until a deadline that follows receipt of these materials.  Once we have made an offer of academic scholarship, we do not make changes to those awards.

If you have specific questions, or a special circumstance you’d like to discuss, we suggest you contact the Admissions Office by phone and speak directly to your admissions counselor.