Applying for college is a major undertaking, with no guarantee of acceptance. It can truly be a nerve-wracking process, especially if you’re applying to one of the top 15 hardest colleges to get into.
Low Acceptance Rate Colleges
It’s widely believed that schools that are more selective, i.e. have lower acceptance rates, will offer a better education and a more prestigious degree. However, that’s not necessarily true. Most hardest school to get into have a limit on the number of applicants they can accept. As the number of applicants to these schools grows each year, the acceptance rates tend to decline, feeding into the cycle of making these colleges appear even more selective.
There are many schools with high acceptance rates that also offer a quality education, in some cases at a more affordable price, so it’s important to look at all parts of a school before deciding to apply.
As with all major decisions, do your research. Determine if the schools you’re interested in offer the types of programs that will help you reach your career goals. Find out what credits you might be able to get for life or military experience. Confirm that the tuition is within your means or establish what financial aid options are available to you.
We reviewed education data across thousands of degree-granting institutions using the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to determine the most selective colleges in the U.S. We indexed both acceptance rates and SAT test scores of admitted students to measure the difficulty of being accepted. The tuition listed is for full time, first time undergraduates paying the out of state rate.
Our List of Top 15 Hardest Universities to get into
- Harvard
- Stanford
- The Julliard School
- The Colburn Conservatory of Music
- Princeton University
- Columbia University in the City of New York
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Yale University
- United States Naval Academy
- California Institute of Technology
- Pomona College
- Brown University
- University of Pennsylvania
- Northwestern University
- University of Chicago
The list of top 15 hardest colleges to get into naturally includes Ivy League universities that receive tens of thousands of applications and only accept a fraction of them. We were curious what other schools might show up if we expanded the list to include schools with acceptance rates below 30%. Look at the full list below, you may be surprised to find that some lesser known schools are almost as selective as the Ivies.
See All 100!
| Institution Name | Location | Tuition | Acceptance Rate | Retention Rate | Graduation Rate |
| Harvard University | Cambridge, MA | $44,990.00 | 5% | 98% | 86% |
| Stanford University | Stanford, CA | $48,987.00 | 5% | 98% | 75% |
| Princeton University | Princeton, NJ | $47,140.00 | 6% | 98% | 90% |
| The Juilliard School | New York, NY | $43,170.00 | 6% | 93% | 88% |
| The Colburn Conservatory of Music | Los Angeles, CA | $46,350.00 | 6% | 92% | Not Reported |
| Yale University | New Haven, CT | $51,400.00 | 7% | 99% | 88% |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge, MA | $49,580.00 | 7% | 99% | 82% |
| Columbia University in the City of New York | New York, NY | $48,989.00 | 7% | 97% | 89% |
| Pomona College | Pomona, CA | $50,720.00 | 8% | 98% | 91% |
| California Institute of Technology | Pasadena, CA | $48,111.00 | 8% | 98% | 84% |
| Brown University | Providence, RI | $52,231.00 | 8% | 98% | 83% |
| United States Naval Academy | Annapolis, MD | $0.00 | 8% | 95% | 86% |
| University of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $53,292.00 | 9% | 99% | 86% |
| University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, PA | $47,416.00 | 9% | 98% | 87% |
| Northwestern University | Evanston, IL | $52,239.00 | 9% | 98% | 82% |
| Duke University | Durham, NC | $51,720.00 | 10% | 97% | 86% |
| Claremont McKenna College | Claremont, CA | $52,580.00 | 10% | 97% | 77% |
| Dartmouth College | Hanover, NH | $51,468.00 | 10% | 96% | 86% |
| United States Military Academy | West Point, NY | $0.00 | 10% | 96% | 80% |
| Swarthmore College | Swarthmore, PA | $50,424.00 | 11% | 98% | 87% |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, TN | $46,500.00 | 11% | 97% | 87% |
| United States Air Force Academy | USAF Academy, CO | $0.00 | 12% | 94% | 77% |
| Franklin W Olin College of Engineering | Needham, MA | $48,600.00 | 13% | 99% | 76% |
| Amherst College | Amherst, MA | $53,430.00 | 13% | 97% | 88% |
| Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD | $52,170.00 | 13% | 97% | 87% |
| Cornell University | Ithaca, NY | $52,612.00 | 13% | 97% | 86% |
| Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art | New York, NY | $43,250.00 | 13% | 96% | 64% |
| College of the Ozarks | Point Lookout, MO | $18,700.00 | 13% | 74% | 63% |
| Chamberlain University-Georgia | Atlanta, GA | $18,900.00 | 14% | 100% | Not Reported |
| Bowdoin College | Brunswick, ME | $51,344.00 | 14% | 96% | 86% |
| Williams College | Williamstown, MA | $53,240.00 | 15% | 98% | 88% |
| Harvey Mudd College | Claremont, CA | $54,347.00 | 15% | 98% | 86% |
| Tufts University | Medford, MA | $53,152.00 | 15% | 96% | 88% |
| Barnard College | New York, NY | $50,882.00 | 15% | 95% | 85% |
| United States Coast Guard Academy | New London, CT | $0.00 | 15% | 94% | 84% |
| Colorado College | Colorado Springs, CO | $52,380.00 | 15% | 94% | 82% |
| Washington University in St Louis | Saint Louis, MO | $50,650.00 | 16% | 97% | 86% |
| Rice University | Houston, TX | $44,900.00 | 16% | 97% | 80% |
| University of California-Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | $39,516.00 | 16% | 97% | 74% |
| Georgetown University | Washington, DC | $51,720.00 | 16% | 96% | 90% |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA | $53,448.00 | 16% | 96% | 77% |
| Wesleyan University | Middletown, CT | $52,174.00 | 16% | 95% | 92% |
| Pitzer College | Claremont, CA | $51,964.00 | 16% | 95% | 83% |
| Colby College | Waterville, ME | $50,890.00 | 16% | 94% | 91% |
| University of California-Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | $39,516.00 | 17% | 97% | 73% |
| Middlebury College | Middlebury, VT | $52,080.00 | 17% | 96% | 87% |
| University of Notre Dame | Notre Dame, IN | $50,988.00 | 19% | 98% | 91% |
| St Joseph’s College of Nursing | Syracuse, NY | $18,360.00 | 20% | 100% | Not Reported |
| Haverford College | Haverford, PA | $52,278.00 | 20% | 97% | 85% |
| Davidson College | Davidson, NC | $49,454.00 | 20% | 95% | 90% |
| Grace Mission University | Fullerton, CA | $2,640.00 | 20% | 80% | Not Reported |
| Belanger School of Nursing | Schenectady, NY | $10,094.00 | 20% | 0% | Not Reported |
| Phillips School of Nursing at Mount Sinai Beth Israel | New York, NY | $27,566.00 | 20% | 0% | Not Reported |
| Carleton College | Northfield, MN | $52,476.00 | 21% | 96% | 91% |
| Tulane University of Louisiana | New Orleans, LA | $48,920.00 | 21% | 93% | 72% |
| American Musical and Dramatic Academy | New York, NY | $37,070.00 | 21% | 72% | 53% |
| Central Christian College of the Bible | Moberly, MO | $7,500.00 | 21% | 58% | 15% |
| Washington and Lee University | Lexington, VA | $49,170.00 | 22% | 97% | 88% |
| Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh, PA | $52,732.00 | 22% | 96% | 72% |
| Wellesley College | Wellesley, MA | $50,840.00 | 22% | 95% | 86% |
| Bates College | Lewiston, ME | $52,042.00 | 22% | 95% | 83% |
| Emory University | Atlanta, GA | $48,690.00 | 22% | 93% | 83% |
| New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology | Socorro, NM | $19,941.00 | 22% | 74% | |
| Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | Atlanta, GA | $30,604.00 | 23% | 97% | 40% |
| Thomas University | Thomasville, GA | $15,940.00 | 23% | 54% | 15% |
| Carolinas College of Health Sciences | Charlotte, NC | $12,938.00 | 24% | 100% | Not Reported |
| Hamilton College | Clinton, NY | $52,250.00 | 24% | 96% | 87% |
| Vassar College | Poughkeepsie, NY | $54,410.00 | 24% | 96% | 86% |
| Babson College | Babson Park, MA | $49,664.00 | 24% | 96% | 83% |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC | $32,602.00 | 24% | 96% | 81% |
| California Institute of the Arts | Valencia, CA | $46,830.00 | 24% | 90% | 51% |
| Saint Louis Christian College | Florissant, MO | $11,180.00 | 24% | 21% | 31% |
| Virginia International University | Fairfax, VA | $9,408.00 | 24% | 11% | Not Reported |
| Lehigh University | Bethlehem, PA | $50,320.00 | 25% | 96% | 74% |
| Skidmore College | Saratoga Springs, NY | $51,456.00 | 25% | 93% | 83% |
| Boston University | Boston, MA | $50,980.00 | 25% | 93% | 80% |
| Southern University at New Orleans | New Orleans, LA | $13,384.00 | 25% | 52% | 2% |
| Chamberlain University-California | Rancho Cordova, CA | $18,900.00 | 25% | 0% | Not Reported |
| Alice Lloyd College | Pippa Passes, KY | $9,600.00 | 26% | 81% | 16% |
| Northeastern University | Boston, MA | $48,560.00 | 27% | 97% | Not Reported |
| University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor, MI | $48,814.00 | 27% | 97% | 75% |
| University of Virginia-Main Campus | Charlottesville, VA | $44,230.00 | 27% | 96% | 87% |
| Theatre of Arts | Hollywood, CA | $19,800.00 | 27% | 86% | Not Reported |
| Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences | Reading, PA | $10,178.00 | 27% | 81% | Not Reported |
| Oak Hills Christian College | Bemidji, MN | $17,034.00 | 27% | 62% | 29% |
| Florida Memorial University | Miami Gardens, FL | $12,576.00 | 27% | 56% | 13% |
| St Luke’s College | Sioux City, IA | $18,900.00 | 27% | 0% | Not Reported |
| Colgate University | Hamilton, NY | $53,650.00 | 28% | 94% | 86% |
| Wake Forest University | Winston-Salem, NC | $50,524.00 | 28% | 94% | 82% |
| New York University | New York, NY | $47,942.00 | 28% | 93% | 81% |
| California State University-Long Beach | Long Beach, CA | $17,622.00 | 28% | 88% | 16% |
| Columbia International University | Columbia, SC | $21,720.00 | 28% | 73% | 47% |
| Kettering College | Kettering, OH | $12,408.00 | 28% | 72% | 32% |
| Hope International University | Fullerton, CA | $30,700.00 | 28% | 72% | 23% |
| Southwestern Assemblies of God University | Waxahachie, TX | $19,700.00 | 28% | 72% | 22% |
| University of West Alabama | Livingston, AL | $15,228.00 | 28% | 66% | 12% |
| Emory University-Oxford College | Oxford, GA | $46,058.00 | 29% | 97% | Not Reported |
| Grinnell College | Grinnell, IA | $50,014.00 | 29% | 96% | 79% |
| American University | Washington, DC | $45,808.00 | 29% | 90% | 76% |
| CUNY Bernard M Baruch College | New York, NY | $13,920.00 | 29% | 90% | 42% |
| Ohio Valley University | Vienna, WV | $21,100.00 | 29% | 62% | 16% |
| Johnson & Wales University-Online | Providence, RI | $13,365.00 | 29% | 33% | Not Reported |