Colleges are often ranked by their selectivity, which is a school’s admission rate.

This objective measure of a colleges’ current popularity and competitiveness is not necessarily an indication of its educational quality. Most Selective colleges admit fewer than 25% of their applicants. Very Selective colleges admit between 25% and 50% of their applicants. Although we’ve only focused here on colleges with selectivity ≤35%, many excellent schools admit more than 35% of their applicants.

One-Stop Admitted Students

Most Selective Colleges with Admission Rates 4%-12%

Amherst College

Barnard College

Bates College

Bowdoin College

Brown University

California Institute of Technology

Claremont McKenna College

Colby College

Columbia University

Cornell University

Dartmouth College

Harvard College

Johns Hopkins University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Northwestern University

Pomona College

Princeton University

Rice University

Stanford University

Swarthmore College

University of California: Los Angeles

University of Chicago

University of Pennsylvania

University of Southern California

Vanderbilt University

Williams College

Yale University

One-Stop Admitted Students

Most Selective Colleges with Admission Rates 13%-24%

Boston University

Carleton College

Carnegie Mellon University

Colgate University

Colorado College

Cooper Union

Davidson College

Emory University

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

Georgetown University

Georgia Institute of Technology

Grinnell College

Hamilton College

Harvey Mudd College

Haverford College

Wellesley College

Middlebury College

New York University

Northeastern University

Pitzer College

Sciences PO

Tufts University

Tulane University

U of California: Berkeley

U of Michigan

U of North Carolina

U of Notre Dame

U of Virginia

Vassar College

Washington and Lee University

Washington University in St. Louis

Wesleyan University

One-Stop Admitted Students

Very Selective Colleges with Admission Rates 25%-35%

Babson College

Boston College

Brandeis University

Bryn Mawr College

California Polytechnic State U: San Luis Obispo

Case Western Reserve University

Denison University

Emerson College

Florida State University

Franklin & Marshall College

Trinity University

University of California: Irvine

University of California: Santa Barbara

University of Miami

University of Richmond

Lafayette College

Lehigh University

Macalester College

Pepperdine University

Rhode Island School of Design

Scripps College

Skidmore College

Smith College

Trinity College

University of Florida

University of Rochester

University of Texas at Austin

Villanova University

Wake Forest University

Wesleyan College

In the midst of so much complexity, we distill what’s most important for your college-bound student.

Read the latest college admission insights in our Tips for Teens (and Parents, Too!) digest.

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