Colleges with the Lowest Acceptance Rate

The average acceptance rate over 4-years colleges is higher than last year, but high ranked colleges still have low acceptance rate. In particular, the acceptance rate at prestigious colleges such as best colleges including Stanford, Harvard, and MIT is lower than last year.

California Institute of Technology stays at first place of the lowest acceptance rate ranking since last year. Stanford University ranked 2nd, up 1 place from 3rd last year.

The average undergraduate tuition & fees of the schools is $64,644 and graduate tuition & fees is $55,453 for the academic year 2024-2025.

We note that the actual tightness of admission lies in considering other admission requirements such as SAT score.

Comparison between Tightest Colleges To Get In

Table. Tightest Colleges To Get In Comparison
School NameAcceptance RateYieldSAT ScoreUndergraduate Tuition & FeesTotal PopulationGraduation RateStudents to Faculty Ratio
1
-		California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CAPrivate, 4-year 2.57%
0.57%		61.24%-$65,8982,43094.00%3 to 1
2
1		Stanford University Stanford, CAPrivate, 4-year 3.61%
0.30%		81.91%1,550$65,91018,62592.00%6 to 1
3
1		Harvard University Cambridge, MAPrivate, 4-year 3.65%
0.20%		83.60%1,550$61,67630,25998.00%7 to 1
4
1		Yale University New Haven, CTPrivate, 4-year 3.87%
0.63%		69.78%1,540$67,25015,56496.00%5 to 1
5
1		Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NYPrivate, 4-year 3.99%
0.24%		64.92%1,550$70,51735,17396.00%6 to 1
6
2		University of Chicago Chicago, ILPrivate, 4-year 4.48%
0.31%		88.29%1,550$69,32418,56696.00%5 to 1
7
-		Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MAPrivate, 4-year 4.55%
0.19%		85.83%1,560$62,39611,88696.00%3 to 1
8
3		Princeton University Princeton, NJPrivate, 4-year 4.62%
0.12%		75.48%1,550$62,6889,13798.00%5 to 1
9
1		Northeastern University Boston, MAPrivate, 4-year 5.22%
0.43%		53.75%1,490$66,16232,55391.00%16 to 1
10
1		Brown University Providence, RIPrivate, 4-year 5.39%
0.16%		65.16%1,540$71,31211,95696.00%6 to 1
11
1		Dartmouth College Hanover, NHPrivate, 4-year 5.40%
0.83%		69.12%1,540$68,0196,93896.00%7 to 1
11
-		University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PAPrivate, 4-year 5.40%
0.47%		67.98%1,550$68,68629,10997.00%8 to 1
13
2		Duke University Durham, NCPrivate, 4-year 5.71%
1.07%		58.84%1,540$68,75817,49997.00%5 to 1
14
1		Vanderbilt University Nashville, TNPrivate, 4-year 5.86%
0.42%		61.23%1,540$67,49813,57594.00%8 to 1
15
4		Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MDPrivate, 4-year 6.44%
1.12%		47.02%1,550$64,73030,21094.00%6 to 1
16
2		Pomona College Claremont, CAPrivate, 4-year 7.09%
0.33%		50.23%1,540$65,4201,70093.00%7 to 1
16
-		Colby College Waterville, MEPrivate, 4-year 7.09%
0.26%		46.18%1,510$69,6002,41289.00%9 to 1
18
4		Bowdoin College Brunswick, MEPrivate, 4-year 7.13%
0.89%		53.59%1,520$67,8321,88195.00%9 to 1
19
11		Washington University of Science and Technology Alexandria, VAPrivate, 4-year 7.26%
4.23%		66.67%-$13,7851,09667.00%14 to 1
20
3		Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PAPrivate, 4-year 7.46%
0.52%		43.79%1,540$65,4941,62392.00%7 to 1
21
3		Northwestern University Evanston, ILPrivate, 4-year 7.69%
0.54%		55.31%1,540$68,32223,85695.00%6 to 1
22
2		Rice University Houston, TXPrivate, 4-year 8.00%
0.12%		44.20%1,550$61,2478,96195.00%6 to 1
23
4		Williams College Williamstown, MAPrivate, 4-year 8.25%
1.74%		43.00%1,540$68,5602,16494.00%6 to 1
24
1		Cornell University Ithaca, NYPrivate, 4-year 8.76%
0.60%		63.91%1,540$69,31426,79395.00%9 to 1
25
4		Barnard College New York, NYPrivate, 4-year 8.84%
0.88%		68.64%1,520$69,8883,48793.00%10 to 1
26
2		University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CAPublic, 4-year 8.97%
0.24%		50.40%-$46,121
($14,233)		47,33593.00%20 to 1
27
1		Amherst College Amherst, MAPrivate, 4-year 9.01%
0.81%		38.77%1,540$70,4801,91494.00%6 to 1
28
3		New York University New York, NYPrivate, 4-year 9.23%
0.18%		55.38%1,520$62,79656,83288.00%8 to 1
29
-		Claremont McKenna College Claremont, CAPrivate, 4-year 9.59%
1.53%		53.83%1,530$67,9801,39391.00%8 to 1
30
2		University of Southern California Los Angeles, CAPrivate, 4-year 9.81%
0.21%		43.34%1,500$71,64746,56692.00%9 to 1
Average6.50%60.38%1,537$64,644
($14,233)		17,05093.23%8 to 1