Many students dream of getting into a prestigious college or university. However, the number of available seats is often much smaller than the number of applicants, making it very hard to get admitted to these top schools.
The 100 colleges and universities listed here are the most selective in the USA, according to the fall 2022 entering class. These Colleges and universities have the lowest acceptance rates among all USA News surveyed undergraduate institutions, making them very competitive.
If you aim to join one of these top institutions, be prepared for a tough admission process. Working hard and preparing well can increase your chances of success.
| Lowest Acceptance Rate Colleges in USA | CIT/Harvard |
| Harvard Acceptance Rate | 3% |
| Good Acceptance Rate | 10-30% |
| #1 hardest School To Get Into | California Institute of Technology |
| Minerva University Acceptance Rate | 5-10% |
Top 10 Lowest Acceptance Rates Colleges
California Institute of Technology and Harvard University have the lowest acceptance rate only 3%.
| S.NO | University / College | LOCATION | FALL 2022 ACCEPTANCE RATE |
| 1 | California Institute of Technology | Pasadena, CA | 3% |
| 2 | Harvard University | Cambridge, MA | 3% |
| 3 | Columbia University | New York, NY | 4% |
| 4 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge, MA | 4% |
| 5 | Stanford University | Stanford, CA | 4% |
| 6 | Brown University | Providence, RI | 5% |
| 7 | Curtis Institute of Music | Philadelphia, PA | 5% |
| 8 | University of Chicago | Chicago, IL | 5% |
| 9 | Yale University | New Haven, CT | 5% |
| 10 | Dartmouth College | Hanover, NH | 6% |
100 Lowest Acceptance Rates Colleges
| S.NO | SCHOOL | LOCATION | FALL 2022 ACCEPTANCE RATE |
| 1 | California Institute of Technology | Pasadena, CA | 3% |
| 2 | Harvard University | Cambridge, MA | 3% |
| 3 | Columbia University | New York, NY | 4% |
| 4 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge, MA | 4% |
| 5 | Stanford University | Stanford, CA | 4% |
| 6 | Brown University | Providence, RI | 5% |
| 7 | Curtis Institute of Music | Philadelphia, PA | 5% |
| 8 | University of Chicago | Chicago, IL | 5% |
| 9 | Yale University | New Haven, CT | 5% |
| 10 | Dartmouth College | Hanover, NH | 6% |
| 11 | Duke University | Durham, NC | 6% |
| 12 | Princeton University | Princeton, NJ | 6% |
| 13 | Amherst College | Amherst, MA | 7% |
| 14 | Cornell University | Ithaca, NY | 7% |
| 15 | Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD | 7% |
| 16 | Northeastern University | Boston, MA | 7% |
| 17 | Northwestern University | Evanston, IL | 7% |
| 18 | Pomona College | Claremont, CA | 7% |
| 19 | Swarthmore College | Swarthmore, PA | 7% |
| 20 | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, PA | 7% |
| 21 | Vanderbilt University | Nashville, TN | 7% |
| 22 | Colby College | Waterville, ME | 8% |
| 23 | Williams College | Williamstown, MA | 8% |
| 24 | Barnard College | New York, NY | 9% |
| 25 | Bowdoin College | Brunswick, ME | 9% |
| 26 | Johnson C. Smith University | Charlotte, NC | 9% |
| 27 | Rice University | Houston, TX | 9% |
| 28 | University of California, Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | 9% |
| 29 | Claremont McKenna College | Claremont, CA | 10% |
| 30 | Juilliard School | New York, NY | 10% |
| 31 | Tufts University | Medford, MA | 10% |
| 32 | Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh, PA | 11% |
| 33 | Emory University | Atlanta, GA | 11% |
| 34 | Grinnell College | Grinnell, IA | 11% |
| 35 | Tulane University | New Orleans, LA | 11% |
| 36 | United States Naval Academy | Annapolis, MD | 11% |
| 37 | University of California, Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | 11% |
| 38 | Washington University in St. Louis | St. Louis, MO | 11% |
| 39 | Colgate University | Hamilton, NY | 12% |
| 40 | Georgetown University | Washington, DC | 12% |
| 41 | Hamilton College | Clinton, NY | 12% |
| 42 | New York University | New York, NY | 12% |
| 43 | St. Andrews University | Laurinburg, NC | 12% |
| 44 | United States Military Academy at West Point | West Point, NY | 12% |
| 45 | University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA | 12% |
| 46 | Alice Lloyd College | Pippa Passes, KY | 13% |
| 47 | Harvey Mudd College | Claremont, CA | 13% |
| 48 | Middlebury College | Middlebury, VT | 13% |
| 49 | Pacific Oaks College | Pasadena, CA | 13% |
| 50 | United States Air Force Academy | USAF Academy, CO | 13% |
| 51 | University of Notre Dame | Notre Dame, IN | 13% |
| 52 | Bates College | Lewiston, ME | 14% |
| 53 | Boston University | Boston, MA | 14% |
| 54 | Colorado College | Colorado Springs, CO | 14% |
| 55 | Faulkner University | Montgomery, AL | 14% |
| 56 | Haverford College | Haverford, PA | 14% |
| 57 | Wellesley College | Wellesley, MA | 14% |
| 58 | Wesleyan University | Middletown, CT | 14% |
| 59 | United States Coast Guard Academy | New London, CT | 15% |
| 60 | Boston College | Chestnut Hill, MA | 17% |
| 61 | Carleton College | Northfield, MN | 17% |
| 62 | Davidson College | Davidson, NC | 17% |
| 63 | Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA | 17% |
| 64 | Harris-Stowe State University | St. Louis, MO | 17% |
| 65 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC | 17% |
| 66 | Washington and Lee University | Lexington, VA | 17% |
| 67 | Pitzer College | Claremont, CA | 18% |
| 68 | University of Michigan–Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor, MI | 18% |
| 69 | Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering | Needham, MA | 19% |
| 70 | Rhode Island School of Design | Providence, RI | 19% |
| 71 | University of Miami | Coral Gables, FL | 19% |
| 72 | University of Virginia | Charlottesville, VA | 19% |
| 73 | Vassar College | Poughkeepsie, NY | 19% |
| 74 | College of the Ozarks | Point Lookout, MO | 21% |
| 75 | Hillsdale College | Hillsdale, MI | 21% |
| 76 | University of California, Irvine | Irvine, CA | 21% |
| 77 | Wake Forest University | Winston-Salem, NC | 21% |
| 78 | Webb Institute | Glen Cove, NY | 21% |
| 79 | Babson College | Babson Park, MA | 22% |
| 80 | Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art | New York, NY | 22% |
| 81 | Denison University | Granville, OH | 22% |
| 82 | Smith College | Northampton, MA | 23% |
| 83 | University of Florida | Gainesville, FL | 23% |
| 84 | Villanova University | Villanova, PA | 23% |
| 85 | University of California, San Diego | La Jolla, CA | 24% |
| 86 | University of Richmond | Univ. of Richmond, VA | 24% |
| 87 | Berea College | Berea, KY | 25% |
| 88 | Florida State University | Tallahassee, FL | 25% |
| 89 | Kettering College | Kettering, OH | 25% |
| 90 | Skidmore College | Saratoga Springs, NY | 26% |
| 91 | University of California, Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara, CA | 26% |
| 92 | University of Tampa | Tampa, FL | 26% |
| 93 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, OH | 27% |
| 94 | Macalester College | St. Paul, MN | 28% |
| 95 | Scripps College | Claremont, CA | 28% |
| 96 | Spelman College | Atlanta, GA | 28% |
| 97 | California Institute of the Arts | Valencia, CA | 29% |
| 98 | Thomas University | Thomasville, GA | 29% |
| 99 | United States Merchant Marine Academy | Kings Point, NY | 29% |
| 100 | Tuskegee University | Tuskegee, AL | 30% |
People Also Ask
Question: Which US college has the lowest acceptance rate?
Answer: Harvard and California Institute of Technology have the lowest acceptance rate in the USA, at 3%.
Question: What is a good acceptance rate?
Answer: US universities & Colleges have a reasonable acceptance rate of 10-30%.
Question: Why do US universities have such low acceptance rates?
Answer: US universities receive more applications each year and have limited seats. Due to this, they select limited candidates, ultimately leading to a low acceptance rate.
Question: What Ivy League has the lowest acceptance rate?
Answer: As per the US News and Data, Two Ivy League schools have the lowest acceptance rates in the United States. These colleges are Harvard and CalTech.
Question: What is the #1 hardest school to get into?
Answer: California Institute of Technology is the #1 hardest school to get into as per the acceptance rates.
Question: What is Minerva University acceptance rate?
Answer: Minerva University has a very low acceptance rate of around 5-10%.
Question: What are the lowest acceptance rate colleges in Texas?
- Rice University has a 9% acceptance rate.
- The University of Texas at Austin has a 31% acceptance rate.
Question: What is the Hamilton college acceptance rate?
Answer: Hamilton College acceptance rate is 11.8%.
Question: What is the Middlebury college acceptance rate
Answer: 13% is the acceptance rate of Middlebury college.
Question: What are the lowest graduation rate colleges in US?
Answer: Tulane University, Pepperdine University, University of California-San Diego, New York University and Western International University has the lowest graduation rate in USA.
Lowest Acceptance Rates Colleges in USA References
Websites: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate
