Lowest Acceptance Rate Colleges in USA

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

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%

Colleges With 20%-40% Acceptance Rate

S No	College	Acceptance Rate
1	Liberty University	22%
2	Emory University	24%
3	New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology	24%
4	Piedmont International University	24%
5	Carnegie Mellon University	24%
6	California Institute of the Arts	25%
7	Maine College of Health Professions	25%
8	Babson College	26%
9	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	26%
10	Northeastern University	28%
11	Southwestern Assemblies of God University	28%
12	Berklee College of Music	29%
13	Boston College	29%
14	Wake Forest University	29%
15	Tulane University of Louisiana	30%
16	Lehigh University	30%
17	University of Virginia-Main Campus	30%
18	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	31%
19	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	31%
20	Corban University	31%
21	University of Richmond	31%
22	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus	32%
23	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	32%
24	New York University	32%
25	University of California-Santa Barbara	33%
26	Boston University	33%
27	California State University-Long Beach	34%
28	Hope International University	34%
29	San Diego State University	34%
30	Brandeis University	34%
31	Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing & Allied Health	34%
32	University of Rochester	34%
33	Columbia International University	34%
34	College of William and Mary	34%
35	American University	35%
36	Emmaus Bible College	35%
37	Skidmore College	36%
38	Laguna College of Art and Design	37%
39	Maharishi University of Management	37%
40	CUNY Brooklyn College	37%
41	University of California-Davis	38%
42	Colorado School of Mines	38%
43	University of Miami	38%
44	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona	39%
45	University of California-Irvine	39%
46	Andrews University	39%
47	CUNY Hunter College	39%
48	The University of Texas at Austin	39%
49	Park University	40%
50	CUNY Queens College	40%
51	Western Carolina University	40%
52	University of Memphis	40%

Colleges with 40-50 Percent Acceptance Rate

S No	College	Acceptance Rate
1	Park University	40%
2	CUNY Queens College	40%
3	Western Carolina University	40%
4	University of Memphis	40%
5	Spring Hill College	41%
6	Fashion Institute of Technology	41%
7	Stony Brook University	41%
8	SUNY at Purchase College	41%
9	California State University-Fullerton	42%
10	The University of West Florida	42%
11	New York School of Interior Design	42%
12	SUNY at Binghamton	42%
13	State University of New York at New Paltz	42%
14	Dallas Baptist University	42%
15	Texas Christian University	43%
16	Stevens Institute of Technology	44%
17	King University	44%
18	Florida Southern College	45%
19	University of South Florida-Main Campus	45%
20	Toccoa Falls College	45%
21	University of Maryland-College Park	45%
22	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	45%
23	Marist College	45%
24	Monroe College	45%
25	Wilson College	45%
26	LeTourneau University	45%
27	George Washington University	46%
28	Southeastern University	46%
29	Midway University	46%
30	St Lawrence University	46%
31	Bryan College-Dayton	46%
32	Bristol University	46%
33	University of La Verne	47%
34	Pfeiffer University	47%
35	Texas A & M University-Commerce	47%
36	Chapman University	48%
37	University of Florida	48%
38	Graceland University-Lamoni	48%
39	Fordham University	48%
40	Syracuse University	48%
41	Muhlenberg College	48%
42	Villanova University	48%
43	Brigham Young University-Provo	48%
44	Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising-Los Angeles	49%
45	Howard University	49%
46	University of Central Florida	49%
47	Augustana College	49%
48	North Park University	49%
49	University of Saint Mary	49%
50	Emerson College	49%
51	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	49%
52	William Jewell College	49%
53	Ohio State University-Main Campus	49%
54	Cumberland University	49%
55	University of California-Santa Cruz	50%
56	Florida International University	50%
57	Concordia University-Chicago	50%
58	Eastern Illinois University	50%
59	Mount Holyoke College	50%
60	Saint Elizabeth College of Nursing	50%
61	SUNY College at Plattsburgh	50%
62	North Carolina State University at Raleigh	50%
63	Abilene Christian University	50%

Other Universities With Lowest Acceptance Rates in USA

University	Acceptance Rate
Minerva University acceptance rate	5-10%
Caltech acceptance rate	2.70%
Harvard acceptance rate	3.20%

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 college has the lowest acceptance rate in the world?

Answer: California Institute of Technology has the lowest acceptance rate in the world.

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.

Question: What are the lowest acceptance rate colleges in California?

Answer: Pomona College, Minerva University, Stanford University, Claremont McKenna College, California Institute of Technology, University of California Los Angeles, and University of Southern California are the lowest acceptance rate colleges in California.

Question: What University has the highest acceptance rate?

Answer: University of New Mexico has the highest acceptance rates in the US with an average rate of 96%.

Lowest Acceptance Rates Colleges in USA References

Websites: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate