When it come to college admissions, some schools are a much more difficult — if not seemingly impossible — nut to crack.
The toughest U.S. college to get into has an acceptance rate of just 7% and its enrolled-student SAT scores are typically in the range of 1530 to 1580, according to the latest annual rankings by academic review site Niche.com.
The rankings are based on acceptance rates and SAT/ACT test score data from the U.S. Department of Education.
Here are the hardest colleges to gain admission to in America.
35. U.S. Naval Academy
Main location: Annapolis, Maryland
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 9%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1150-1370
The U.S. Naval Academy is among the colleges where tuition is free for all students. USNA students even receive free room and board, free medical and dental care costs, and monthly stipends for certain expenses. In return, students agree to give the U.S. Navy five years of active duty service upon graduation.
34. Barnard College
Main location: New York, New York
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 14%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1330-1500
33. Colby College
Main location: Waterville, Maine
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 13%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1350-1510
32. University of California Berkeley
Main location: Berkeley, California
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 15%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1320-1530
31. University of Southern California
Main location: Los Angeles, California
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 13%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1350-1530
30. Carnegie Mellon University
Main location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 17%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1450-1550
Students who manage to get accepted to and graduate from Carnegie Mellon University likely will be rewarded in the form of a fatter salary thereafter, according to PayScale’s 2019 College Salary Report.
As we detail in “25 Colleges With the Highest-Earning Graduates,” the report ranks CMU No. 18 in the nation for graduates’ salaries — which reach a median of $136,100 by mid-career.
29. University of Notre Dame
Main location: Notre Dame, Indiana
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 18%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1400-1550
28. Georgetown University
Main location: Washington, D.C.
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 15%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1370-1530
27. Tufts University
Main location: Medford/Somerville, Massachusetts
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 15%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1380 -1530
26. Amherst College
Main location: Amherst, Massachusetts
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 13%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1330-1530
25. Bowdoin College
Main location: Brunswick, Maine
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 10%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1360-1510
24. Williams College
Main location: Williamstown, Massachusetts
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 13%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1410-1550
23. Claremont McKenna College
Main location: Claremont, California
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 9%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1350-1500
22. Washington University in St. Louis
Main location: St. Louis, Missouri
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 15%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1470-1570
21. Swarthmore College
Main location: Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 9%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1380-1550
20. Harvey Mudd College
Main location: Claremont, California
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 14%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1490-1560
Students who manage to get accepted to and graduate from Harvey Mudd College stand to be handsomely rewarded in the form of a high salary, judging by PayScale’s 2019 College Salary Report.
As we detail in “25 Colleges With the Highest-Earning Graduates,” the report ranked HMC the No. 1 college in the nation based on graduate salaries — which soar to a median of $158,200 by mid-career.
19. Cornell University
Main location: Ithaca, New York
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 11%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1390-1540
Cornell doesn’t just teach its students. The university also offers free classes to the public, as we detail in “8 Ivy League Colleges That Offer Free Online Courses.”
18. Johns Hopkins University
Main location: Baltimore, Maryland
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 11%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1450-1560
The George Peabody Library at Johns Hopkins University is not to be missed, whether you are a student or just passing through Baltimore. As we explain in “The Library You Need to See in Every State and D.C.“:
“This architectural masterpiece with five tiers of wrought-iron balconies and a skylight 61 feet above the floor contains 300,000 volumes. Opened in 1878, it is also a prized venue for weddings and other high-brow events. Definitely worth a visit.”
17. Pomona College
Main location: Claremont, California
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 8%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1400-1540
16. Rice University
Main location: Houston, Texas
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 11%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1450-1560
15. Minerva Schools at Keck Graduate Institute
Main location: San Francisco, California
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 2%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: N/A
Minerva’s application process does not take standardized test scores into consideration. The institution explains on its website:
“An extensive review of existing admissions processes, focusing on those of other top-tier universities, revealed that none comprehensively identify all the qualities we seek in our students. To provide a truly equitable alternative, we developed our own three-part, merit-based admissions process. The process, which does not include standardized tests like the SAT, is interactive, challenging, and does not require lengthy preparation, or expensive consultants.”
14. Dartmouth College
Main location: Hanover, New Hampshire
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 9%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1420-1560
13. University of Pennsylvania
Main location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 8%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1420-1550
12. Vanderbilt University
Main location: Nashville, Tennessee
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 10%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1450-1560
11. Brown University
Main location: Providence, Rhode Island
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 8%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1420-1550
10. Northwestern University
Main location: Evanston, Illinois
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 8%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1430-1550
9. Duke University
Main location: Durham, North Carolina
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 9%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1450-1570
8. Columbia University
Main location: New York, New York
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 6%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1450-1560
Five American Founding Fathers and 34 of the world’s presidents and prime ministers have attended Columbia University.
7. University of Chicago
Main location: Chicago, Illinois
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 7%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1470-1570
6. Princeton University
Main location: Princeton, New Jersey
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 5%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1440-1570
5. Yale University
Main location: New Haven, Connecticut
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 6%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1460-1570
The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University draws scholars from across the world, as we report in “The Library You Need to See in Every State and D.C.”
4. Stanford University
Main location: Stanford, California
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 4%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1420-1570
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Main location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 7%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1500-1570
2. Harvard University
Main location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 5%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1460-1580
Even if you can’t get into Harvard, you can still take advantage of the world-class education it offers. The university has an extensive collection of free online classes, as we report in “8 Ivy League Colleges That Offer Free Online Courses.”
1. California Institute of Technology
Main location: Pasadena, California
Acceptance rate for first-time students: 7%
Enrolled students’ SAT score range: 1530-1580
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