By Glyn Caddell, BSME · Author of Digital SAT Math Secrets · Tutoring since 2008 — Updated October 9, 2026
Twelve Minnesota colleges with pre-med programs, what they cost, and the test scores of the students they admit.
Minnesota has two medical schools and they were built for opposite purposes. One in Rochester is among the most research-intensive and selective in the country. One in Duluth exists to train physicians for rural practice and Native American health.
The table shows ACT alongside SAT because far more Minnesota colleges report ACT. Four of the twelve below publish an ACT range and no SAT range.
Table of Contents
- Minnesota Pre-Med Colleges by Test Score
- Minnesota’s Two Medical Schools Were Built for Opposite Purposes
- Does Minnesota Have a Scholarship Tied to Test Scores?
- What If Your Scores Are Below the Range You Want?
Minnesota Pre-Med Colleges by Test Score
| College | SAT Reading & Writing | SAT Math | ACT composite | Cost of attendance | Undergraduates | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carleton College | 720 to 770 | 730 to 790 | 32 to 34 | $84,893 | 2,086 | 20% |
| Macalester College | 680 to 750 | 670 to 760 | 30 to 34 | $82,991 | 2,131 | 29% |
| St Olaf College | 660 to 740 | 640 to 730 | 28 to 32 | $71,843 | 3,093 | 48% |
| University of Minnesota, Twin Cities | 640 to 730 | 660 to 770 | 26 to 31 | $30,061 | 31,855 | 80% |
| University of St Thomas | 640 to 713 | 620 to 710 | 25 to 30 | $66,116 | 6,245 | 85% |
| Gustavus Adolphus College | Not reported | Not reported | 24 to 30 | $67,613 | 1,878 | 61% |
| University of Minnesota, Duluth | 590 to 675 | 590 to 675 | 23 to 28 | $27,680 | 7,336 | 89% |
| Bethel University | 610 to 650 | 580 to 650 | 22 to 28 | $58,569 | 1,871 | 88% |
| Concordia College at Moorhead | Not reported | Not reported | 21 to 26 | $45,942 | 1,829 | 63% |
| Minnesota State University, Mankato | Not reported | Not reported | 21 to 25 | $23,995 | 11,703 | 88% |
| St Catherine University | 480 to 560 | Not comparable | 20 to 26 | $60,476 | 2,473 | 92% |
| Saint Cloud State University | 510 to 615 | 515 to 645 | 17 to 25 | $21,116 | 5,088 | 95% |
Each range covers the middle 50% of admitted students who submitted that test. A quarter scored below the lower number, and the top quarter scored at or above the upper one. Being under the lower number does not rule a student out, and being just above it is not as safe as it looks.
Sorted by ACT composite, because more Minnesota colleges report it. The College Board and ACT publish an official concordance for comparing a score across the two tests.
Three things in that table deserve attention.
Minnesota has two genuinely competitive colleges and then a gap. Carleton admits 20% and Macalester 29%. The next most selective is St Olaf at 48%, and after that everything on this page admits at least 61%.
The public universities are much cheaper than the private colleges, and the difference is stark. Saint Cloud State is $21,116, Minnesota State Mankato $23,995 and Minnesota Duluth $27,680, against Carleton at $84,893 and Macalester at $82,991.
St Catherine University’s SAT Math figure is left out of the table. The university reports a Math range of 370 to 580, which is 210 points wide, against a Reading & Writing range of 480 to 560 that is only 80 points wide. That asymmetry does not look like a real distribution, so the page does not publish it as one.
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Carleton College
Carleton College is a liberal arts college in Northfield with 2,086 undergraduates, and it is the most selective college in Minnesota.
SAT Reading & Writing 720 to 770, SAT Math 730 to 790, ACT composite 32 to 34. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 770, 790 and 34. Cost of attendance $84,893, with tuition and fees at $68,892. 2,086 undergraduates, 20% admitted.
This is also the most expensive school on this page.
Macalester College
Macalester College is a liberal arts college in St Paul with 2,131 undergraduates.
SAT Reading & Writing 680 to 750, SAT Math 670 to 760, ACT composite 30 to 34. The top quarter scored at or above 750, 760 and 34. Cost of attendance $82,991, with tuition and fees at $68,104. 2,131 undergraduates, 29% admitted.
St Olaf College
St Olaf College is a liberal arts college in Northfield with 3,093 undergraduates, in the same small town as Carleton.
SAT Reading & Writing 660 to 740, SAT Math 640 to 730, ACT composite 28 to 32. The top quarter scored at or above 740, 730 and 32. Cost of attendance $71,843, with tuition and fees at $59,760. 3,093 undergraduates, 48% admitted.
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
The University of Minnesota at Twin Cities is the state flagship with 31,855 undergraduates, the largest school on this page, and it runs the main campus of the University of Minnesota Medical School.
SAT Reading & Writing 640 to 730, SAT Math 660 to 770, ACT composite 26 to 31. The top quarter scored at or above 730, 770 and 31. Cost of attendance $30,061, with tuition and fees at $17,214 in-state and $38,362 out-of-state. 31,855 undergraduates, 80% admitted.
Its ACT range of 26 to 31 overlaps with colleges costing more than twice as much.
University of St Thomas
The University of St Thomas is a Catholic university in St Paul with 6,245 undergraduates.
SAT Reading & Writing 640 to 713, SAT Math 620 to 710, ACT composite 25 to 30. The top quarter scored at or above 713, 710 and 30. Cost of attendance $66,116, with tuition and fees at $54,398. 6,245 undergraduates, 85% admitted.
Gustavus Adolphus College
Gustavus Adolphus College is a liberal arts college in St Peter with 1,878 undergraduates.
The college does not report SAT data. ACT composite 24 to 30, with the top quarter at or above 30. Cost of attendance $67,613, with tuition and fees at $56,076. 1,878 undergraduates, 61% admitted.
University of Minnesota, Duluth
The University of Minnesota at Duluth has 7,336 undergraduates, and the medical school’s Duluth campus is in the same city.
SAT Reading & Writing 590 to 675, SAT Math 590 to 675, ACT composite 23 to 28. The top quarter scored at or above 675 in both SAT sections and 28 on the ACT. Cost of attendance $27,680, with tuition and fees at $14,610 in-state and $20,130 out-of-state. 7,336 undergraduates, 89% admitted.
The gap between its in-state and out-of-state tuition is $5,520, the narrowest among the public universities on this page. Saint Cloud State and Mankato both charge less out-of-state in absolute terms.
Bethel University
Bethel University is a private Christian university in Arden Hills with 1,871 undergraduates.
SAT Reading & Writing 610 to 650, SAT Math 580 to 650, ACT composite 22 to 28. The top quarter scored at or above 650 in both SAT sections and 28 on the ACT. Cost of attendance $58,569, with tuition and fees at $44,226. 1,871 undergraduates, 88% admitted.
Concordia College at Moorhead
Concordia College at Moorhead is a private Lutheran college with 1,829 undergraduates, the smallest school on this page.
The college does not report SAT data. ACT composite 21 to 26, with the top quarter at or above 26. Cost of attendance $45,942, with tuition and fees at $31,170. 1,829 undergraduates, 63% admitted.
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Minnesota State University at Mankato has 11,703 undergraduates.
The university does not report SAT data. ACT composite 21 to 25, with the top quarter at or above 25. Cost of attendance $23,995, with tuition and fees at $9,572 in-state and $18,942 out-of-state. 11,703 undergraduates, 88% admitted.
Its in-state tuition of $9,572 is the lowest figure on this page.
St Catherine University
St Catherine University is a Catholic university in St Paul with 2,473 undergraduates and a substantial health professions presence.
SAT Reading & Writing 480 to 560, ACT composite 20 to 26. The top quarter scored at or above 560 and 26. Cost of attendance $60,476, with tuition and fees at $51,454. 2,473 undergraduates, 92% admitted.
Its reported SAT Math range is not included here for the reason given under the table.
Saint Cloud State University
Saint Cloud State University has 5,088 undergraduates and the lowest cost of attendance on this page.
SAT Reading & Writing 510 to 615, SAT Math 515 to 645, ACT composite 17 to 25. The top quarter scored at or above 615, 645 and 25. Cost of attendance $21,116, with tuition and fees at $10,245, the same for in-state and out-of-state students. 5,088 undergraduates, 95% admitted.
That flat tuition makes it unusually inexpensive for a student from outside Minnesota.
Minnesota's Two Medical Schools Were Built for Opposite Purposes
One of them selects for research. The other was created to put doctors in places that struggle to keep them.
Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Rochester
Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine reports a median MCAT of 521 and a median GPA of 3.94. It receives approximately 7,300 applications a year, interviews approximately 800 people and enrolls approximately 100.
An MCAT of 521 sits at approximately the 99th percentile of everyone who takes the test. Nothing else in this series approaches it, and most people do not expect to find a medical school of that calibre in a Minnesota city of approximately 120,000 people.
Over 80% of its students graduate with a research article published in a peer-reviewed journal. The school also runs campuses in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Jacksonville, Florida, so a student applying there is not necessarily applying to Minnesota.
University of Minnesota Medical School, Twin Cities and Duluth
The University of Minnesota Medical School runs two campuses with separate admissions offices and different emphases.
The Twin Cities campus dates to 1888 and is one of the largest medical schools in the country.
The Duluth campus took its first class in 1972 and exists for a specific purpose: primary care in rural Minnesota, Native American health, and family medicine. It enrolls approximately 65 students in each of the first two years, who then move to the Twin Cities campus for clinical rotations.
Third-party sources report Duluth as ranking third nationally for rural medicine training and second for producing American Indian physician graduates. Confirm those with the school before relying on them.
What This Means for Choosing a College
The University of Minnesota Duluth is in the table above with an 89% admit rate. The medical school’s Duluth campus is in the same city.
So a student who can be admitted to UMD without much difficulty is in a town with a medical school built around exactly the kind of practice he might be aiming at. For a student from rural Minnesota who wants to go back, that is a more specific fit than anything else on this page.
None of it decides where to do an undergraduate degree. Medical school applications are national, and a student at Saint Cloud State is not disadvantaged against a student at Carleton when both apply. What proximity changes is how easily shadowing and research can be arranged while the degree is still happening.
Does Minnesota Have a Scholarship Tied to Test Scores?
No, as far as we can establish.
The Minnesota State Grant is based on financial need rather than on a test score. There is no Minnesota equivalent of Florida’s Bright Futures or Georgia’s Zell Miller, where a specific number unlocks a specific amount of state money.
Where scores do work in Minnesota is institutional merit aid, and most colleges here will express their thresholds as ACT scores rather than SAT scores, because that is what applicants submit. Check each college’s scholarship page and note which test it names.
Verify current criteria with the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, since state aid rules change.
What If Your Scores Are Below the Range You Want?
Being below a school’s published range doesn’t disqualify anyone. A quarter of the students admitted to every school on this list scored below its lower number.
Minnesota divides sharply into two groups. Carleton at 20% and Macalester at 29% are genuinely competitive. Everything else on this page admits at least 48%, and six colleges admit 85% or more.
So a score here decides whether the two liberal arts colleges at the top are realistic. It does not decide whether you can study in a town with a medical school, because Duluth admits 89% and Twin Cities admits 80%.
The number worth aiming for is the upper end of a school’s range, the one the top quarter cleared, rather than the middle. The reasoning behind that is on what SAT score you need for college.
The gap is measurable and so is the work to close it. A 70 to 130 point improvement takes approximately 40 hours of effective studying, based on the students we’ve worked with since 2008, and a 130 to 250 point improvement takes approximately 80.
How to improve your SAT score covers the method, including how to work out which topics are actually costing you points. If you don’t have a recent score to compare against this list, a free diagnostic SAT gives you one, broken down by section and by topic.
Should You Take the ACT Instead?
Minnesota reports more ACT data than any state we cover, and by a wide margin.
Eighteen of the twenty-four four-year Minnesota institutions with more than 1,500 undergraduates report an ACT composite. Ten report SAT section ranges. Eight publish an ACT figure and no SAT figure at all.
We sell SAT preparation, so the honest answer is worth stating plainly. If every college on your list is in Minnesota, the ACT is what the published figures are written in and either test is accepted. If your list reaches outside the region, the SAT is the more common currency nationally.
Take whichever you score better on relative to the ranges that apply to you.
How to Read These Score Ranges
Every range on this page covers the middle 50% of admitted students who submitted that test. The lower number is the 25th percentile and the upper number is the 75th, which means a quarter of admitted students scored at or above it.
When a state’s students mostly sit the ACT, the group submitting SAT scores is smaller and more self-selecting, so a Minnesota SAT range describes a narrower slice of applicants than the same figure would in Massachusetts or New Jersey.
Because most colleges are now test-optional, these ranges describe only the students who chose to submit at all. Students with strong scores submit and students with weak ones don’t, so a published range sits higher than the range for everyone who was actually admitted. More on test-optional colleges.
Pre-Med Programs in Nearby States
Minnesota borders Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota, and Minnesota students apply across those lines in numbers.
See pre-med colleges in Iowa, pre-med colleges in Wisconsin, and pre-med colleges in North Dakota.
Pre-Med Colleges in Other States
We publish the same breakdown for pre-med programs in every state.
See pre-med colleges by state for the full list.
Glyn Caddell
Glyn Caddell holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from NJIT and has been tutoring New York City students since 2008. He founded Caddell Prep in 2012 and is the author of Digital SAT Math Secrets: Lessons & Tricks to Quickly Improve to a Perfect 800 on the Math Test, which contains over 900 practice problems and is used in Caddell Prep’s SAT math classes. He is founding president of the Staten Island Technical High School alumni association and teaches every lesson on this site personally.
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