Hardest colleges to get into
What is the hardest college to get into for 2019?
Niche compiled this list by considering U.S. Department of Education data, SAT and ACT scores of applicants, as well as acceptance rates. To arrive at these rankings, acceptance rates are weighted at 60 percent and SAT/ACT scores are weighted at 40 percent. So you’ll see that some higher-ranking schools may have higher acceptance rates; those schools have higher bars for test scores.
Bates College, in Maine, has an acceptance rate of 23 percent. The school does not require SATs or ACTs.
Credit: Bates College via Facebook
This Atlanta school has a 26 percent acceptance rate. Its most popular major is mechanical engineering.
Credit: Mike Comer/Getty Images
The acceptance rate at Washington and Lee University, in Virginia, is 24 percent.
Credit: Washington and Lee University via Facebook
The acceptance rate at UCLA is 18 percent. Its college food is ranked as the second-best in the nation, behind only Virginia Tech.
Credit: UCLA via Facebook/Matt Harbicht
Davidson College, in North Carolina, has an acceptance rate of 20 percent.
Credit: Davidson College via Facebook
The acceptance rate at Haverford College, in Pennsylvania, is 21 percent. Its top major is biology.
Credit: Haverford College
Colby College, in Maine, has a 19 percent acceptance rate.
Credit: Colby College/Dustin Satloff
Carleton College in Minnesota has a 23 percent acceptance rate. It has no application fee.
Credit: Carleton College via Facebook
Colorado College, a small liberal arts school in Colorado Springs, has an acceptance rate of 16 percent.
Credit: Colorado College via Facebook
The United States Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, has a 15 percent acceptance rate.
Credit: United States Air Force Academy via Instagram
Grinnell College, in Iowa, has a 20 percent acceptance rate.
Credit: Grinnell College via Facebook
The acceptance rate at Pitzer College, in California, is 14 percent.
Credit: Pitzer College via Facebook
Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, has a 22 percent acceptance rate. It’s ranked the best college for information technology studies in America.
Credit: Carnegie Mellon University via Facebook
Wesleyan University, in Connecticut, has an acceptance rate of 18 percent. Applicants are not required to take the SATs or ACTs.
Credit: Wesleyan University via Facebook
The University of Southern California in Los Angeles has a 17 percent acceptance rate. Niche recently ranked the school as the best in America for design.
Credit: University of Southern California via Facebook
The acceptance rate at the United States Military Academy at West Point, in New York, is 10 percent.
Credit: United States Military Academy at West Point via Facebook
Barnard College, in New York City, has a 15 percent acceptance rate. It’s the best women’s college in the U.S., according to Niche.
Credit: Barnard College via Facebook
The University of California – Berkeley has a 17 percent acceptance rate.
Despite the school’s reputation for left-leaning politics, Niche ranks Berkeley as only the fifth most liberal in the country; the University of California at Santa Cruz is No. 1.
Credit: Keegan Houser/University of California – Berkeley
The acceptance rate at Middlebury College, in Vermont, is 16 percent.
Credit: Middlebury College
The Cooper Union for The Advancement of Science and Art, in New York City, has a 15 percent acceptance rate.
One-quarter of the students receive Pell Grants.
Credit: The Cooper Union for The Advancement of Science and Art via Facebook
The United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, has a 9 percent acceptance rate.
Applicants here also usually apply to United States Air Force Academy, United States Military Academy at West Point, and United States Coast Guard Academy.
Credit: United States Naval Academy via Facebook
Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C., has a 17 percent acceptance rate.
Niche rates the school an A+ for academics and an A for the party scene.
Credit: Georgetown University via Facebook
Notre Dame, in Indiana, has a 19 percent acceptance rate.
Niche ranked it the No. 1 Catholic college in the country for 2019.
Credit: University of Notre Dame via Facebook
Williams College, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, has an 18 percent acceptance rate.
The small liberal arts school has a 94 percent graduation rate.
Credit: Williams College via Facebook
Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Maine, has a 15 percent acceptance rate.
Niche named it No. 2 among best liberal arts colleges in the country for 2019, behind only Pomona College.
Credit: Bowdoin College via Facebook
Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts, has a 14 percent acceptance rate.
Niche gives the school an A+ for academics and value.
Credit: Tufts University via Facebook
Swarthmore College, in Pennsylvania, has a 13 percent acceptance rate.
The school’s graduation rate is 94 percent.
Credit: Swarthmore College via Facebook
Amherst College, in Amherst, Massachusetts, has a 14 percent acceptance rate.
Student who apply there most often also apply to Williams College, Bowdoin College and Middlebury College.
Credit: Amherst College via Facebook
Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, has a 14 percent acceptance rate.
It’s named by Niche as the best college for agricultural sciences in America.
Credit: Cornell University via Facebook
Washington University in St. Louis has a 17 percent acceptance rate.
It was named by Niche as the best college campus in America for 2019.
Credit: Washington University in St. Louis via Facebook
Rice University, in Houston, has a 15 percent acceptance rate.
Niche recently ranked the school as the best for studying physical therapy.
Credit: Rice University via Facebook
Claremont McKenna College, in Claremont, California, has a 9 percent acceptance rate.
The school has fewer than 1,400 full-time undergrads.
Credit: Claremont McKenna College via Facebook
Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, has a 13 percent acceptance rate.
Nursing and public health are the most popular majors.
Credit: Johns Hopkins University via Facebook
Established in 2012, this relatively new college has a 2 percent acceptance rate. Courses are conducted as online seminars capped at 19 students.
Credit: Ben Margot/AP
Harvey Mudd College, in Claremont, California, has a 13 percent acceptance rate.
Students who apply there also tend to apply to California Institute of Technology, Claremont McKenna College and Pomona College.
Credit: Harvey Mudd College via Facebook
Pomona College, in Claremont, California, has a 9 percent acceptance rate.
It’s named by Niche as the most diverse college in America for 2019, and the best for an overall liberal arts education.
Credit: Pomona College via Facebook
Dartmouth College, in Hanover, New Hampshire, has an 11 percent acceptance rate.
The school has a 97 percent graduation rate.
Credit: Dartmouth College via Facebook
Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois, has an 11 percent acceptance rate.
It’s named by Niche as the best college for communications in America.
Credit: Northwestern University via Facebook
Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina, has an 11 percent acceptance rate.
Niche has ranked Duke as the No. 1 college in America for student athletes.
Credit: Duke University via Facebook
Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, has a 9 percent acceptance rate.
Niche ranks the school as No. 1 for having the best professors in America.
Credit: Brown University via Facebook
The University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, has a 9 percent acceptance rate.
It’s ranked by Niche as the best college for business in America.
Credit: University of Pennsylvania via Facebook
Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, has an 11 percent acceptance rate.
It’s named by Niche as the best college in America to study education, and as third-best for psychology.
Credit: Vanderbilt University via Facebook
Columbia University, in New York City, has a 7 percent acceptance rate.
Economics is the most popular major.
Credit: Columbia University via Facebook
The University of Chicago has an 8 percent acceptance rate.
It’s named by Niche as the best college without an application fee in America. Its most popular major is economics.
Credit: The University of Chicago via Facebook
MIT, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has an 8 percent acceptance rate.
Niche rates MIT as the best college in the nation for 2019. It’s ranked at No. 1 for academics as well as value.
Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology via Facebook
Princeton University, In New Jersey, has a 7 percent acceptance rate.
The school has a 97 percent graduation rate.
Credit: Princeton University via Facebook
Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, has a 6 percent acceptance rate.
For 2019, Niche calls it the best college for studying history.
Credit: Yale University via Facebook
Cal Tech, in Pasadena, California, has an 8 percent acceptance rate.
SAT scores range from 1510 to 1600.
Credit: California Institute of Technology via Facebook
Stanford University, in California, has a 5 percent acceptance rate.
It’s named by Niche as the second-best college in America overall.
Credit: Stanford University via Facebook
Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts has a 5 percent acceptance rate.
Despite its elite status, Niche recently rated Harvard as the No. 3 overall best college in the country for 2019, behind MIT and Stanford.
Credit: Harvard University via Facebook
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