Where Data Tells the Story
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The hardest schools to get into aren’t necessarily just the Ivy Leagues. Many students aim for admission to a prestigious college or university, but the supply of open seats often does not meet the demand from applicants. There are 30 colleges and universities with admissions acceptance rates below 10%. While all 8 of the Ivy Leagues are on the list, the hardest to get into isn’t an Ivy, it’s Caltech (California Institute of Technology,) in southern California, with a scant 3% acceptance rate.
Earning admission to the schools on this list can be especially difficult. Contrast this with the US national average acceptance rate for a four-year college which is about 73%. First year students hoping to get into these colleges will have to compete with thousands of other applicants for enrollment in these schools, the majority of which tend to cluster in the northeast US. Two schools specialize in music and the performing arts: Curtis Institute of Music and Juilliard School. Only one school on this list is federal: the US Naval Academy.
With the exception of UCLA and the US Naval Academy, every college on the list is private.
Data is for fall 2024 (class of 2028) freshman class applicants and when fall 2024 wasn't available, fall 2023 was used.