Below you'll find our list of top 100 colleges in the United States with the lowest rates of acceptance for entering freshman. While some colleges and universities will accept just about anyone who applies, these schools pride themselves on being very selective. These are some of the hardest colleges to get into.
| School Name | Acceptance Rate |
| Stanford University Stanford, California | 3.95% |
| Curtis Institute of Music Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 4.2% |
| Yale University New Haven, Connecticut | 4.46% |
| Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts | 5.4% |
| Juilliard School New York City, New York | 6.2% |
| Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey | 6.5% |
| Columbia University New York City, New York | 6.8% |
| Cornell University Ithaca, New York | 6.9% |
| Alice Lloyd College Pippa Passes, Kentucky | 7.1% |
| University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois | 7.9% |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Cambridge, Massachusetts | 7.9% |
| California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California | 8.1% |
| United States Naval Academy Annapolis, Maryland | 9% |
| Brown University Providence, Rhode Island | 9.3% |
| Pomona College Claremont, California | 9.4% |
| University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 9.4% |
| Claremont McKenna College Claremont, California | 9.4% |
| United States Military Academy West Point, New York | 10% |
| Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering Needham, Massachusetts | 10.2% |
| Dartmouth College Hanover, New Hampshire | 10.6% |
| Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois | 10.7% |
| Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee | 10.7% |
| Duke University Durham, North Carolina | 10.8% |
| Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland | 12.8% |
| Harvey Mudd College Claremont, California | 12.9% |
| Pitzer College Claremont, California | 13.7% |
| Amherst College Amherst, Massachusetts | 13.7% |
| College of the Ozarks Point Lookout, Missouri | 14.2% |
| Bowdoin College Brunswick, Maine | 14.8% |
| Cooper Union New York City, New York | 15.1% |
| Rice University Houston, Texas | 15.1% |
| University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, California | 16% |
| Mississippi Valley State University Itta Bena, Mississippi | 16.2% |
| United States Air Force Academy USAF, Colorado | 16.6% |
| Swarthmore College Swarthmore, Pennsylvania | 17% |
| Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri | 17.1% |
| Middlebury College > Middlebury, Vermont | 17.3% |
| Tufts University Medford, Massachusetts | 17.3% |
| Georgetown University Washington, DC | 17.4% |
| Rust College Holly Springs, Mississippi | 17.6% |
| Colorado College Colorado Springs, Colorado | 18% |
| University of Southern California Los Angeles, California | 18% |
| United States Coast Guard Academy New London, Connecticut | 18.1% |
| University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) Los Angeles, California | 18.5% |
| Williams College Williamstown, Massachusetts | 19.4% |
| Washington and Lee University Lexington, Virginia | 19.6% |
| Liberty University Lynchburg, Virginia | 20.3% |
| Florida Memorial University Miami, Florida | 20.5% |
| University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana | 21.5% |
| Davidson College Davidso, North Carolina | 21.7% |
| Missouri Valley College Marshall, Missouri | 22.2% |
| United States Merchant Marine Academy Kings Point, New York | 22.4% |
| Carleton College Northfield, Minnesota | 22.8% |
| Vassar College Poughkeepsie, New York | 23.5% |
| Barnard College New York, New York | 23.7% |
| Wesleyan University Middletown, Connecticut | 23.9% |
| Fort Valley State University Fort Valley, Georgia | 24.2% |
| Art Academy of Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio | 24.3% |
| Robert Morris University Chicago, Illinois | 24.4% |
| Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | 24.6% |
| Haverford College Haverford, Pennsylvania | 24.7% |
| Kenyon College Gambier, Ohio | 25.1% |
| Bates College Lewiston, Maine | 25.4% |
| Jackson State University Jackson, Mississippi | 26.1% |
| Colgate University Hamilton, New York | 26.1% |
| Warner University Lake Wales, Florida | 26.2% |
| Babson College Wellesley, Massachusetts | 26.4% |
| Hamilton College Clinton, New York | 26.4% |
| Emory University Atlanta, Georgia | 26.8% |
| Lincoln University Lincoln University, Pennsylvania | 27.1% |
| Edward Waters College Jacksonville, Florida | 27.3% |
| Scripps College Claremont, California | 27.4% |
| California Institute of Arts Valencia, California | 27.7% |
| CUNY–Baruch College New York City, New York | 28% |
| Grinnell College Grinnell, Iowa | 28% |
| Tulane University New Orleans, Los Angeles | 28% |
| Colby College Waterville, Maine | 28.1% |
| College of New Rochelle New Rochelle, New York | 28.5% |
| University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina | 28.5% |
| CUNY–Lehman College Bronx, New York | 29% |
| University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia | 29% |
| Hampton University Hampton, Virginia | 29.1% |
| Lafayette College Easton, Pennsylvania | 29.8% |
| Chicago State University Chicago, Illinois | 30% |
| Calumet College of St. Joseph Whiting, Indiana | 30.3% |
| Wellesley College Wellesley, Massachusetts | 30.5% |
| Bucknell University Lewisburg, Pennsylvania | 30.7% |
| California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, California | 30.9% |
| Hope International University Fullerton, California | 31% |
| Wilson College Chambersburg, Pennsylvania | 31.4% |
| Southwestern Adventist University Keene, Texas | 31.5% |
| University of Richmond University of Richmond, Virginia | 31.9% |
| Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts | 32% |
| University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, Michigan | 32.3% |
| Ohio Valley University Vienna, West Virginia | 32.5% |
| Oberlin College Oberlin, Ohio | 32.7% |
| College of William and Mary Williamsburg, Virginia | 33% |
| Trinity College Hartford, Connecticut | 33% |
| Webb Institute Glen Cove, New York | 33% |
See also:
- Top 100 Colleges
- Top 100 Most Affordable Universities
- Top 100 Most Affordable Colleges
- Top 100 Highest Acceptance
- Top Colleges by Major
Learn more about our ranking methodology.
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