Any student who has not graduated from high school is considered a first-year college student. Choose from five deadlines for submitting an application, guaranteeing an admission decision and a scholarship decision within two or three weeks of the date you select. A completed application for a first-year student also includes a personal essay and official high school transcripts. One letter of recommendation is recommended. McDaniel is proudly test-optional but students who believe their test scores demonstrate their ability or enhance their application are welcome to submit them.

Transfer students come from community colleges and four-year colleges alike. We accept transfer applications for both our fall and spring terms and work one-on-one with prospective transfer students to help understand our process. Incoming transfer students should complete the application online with essay and forward official transcripts from ALL colleges attended to the Admissions office. Those who lived on campus at their most recent college AND plan to live on campus at McDaniel should submit the residential student release form.