Colleges and universities with the lowest acceptance rates in the U.S.
Admission: Impossible...
(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Or so it may seem when looking at these 20 colleges and universities that produce some meager acceptance rates. And “meager” might be understating the difficulties, with a few schools only accepting around five people for every 100 who apply.
Yikes!
And the wildest part—to us, anyway—was that our first-guess conclusions were incorrect: While Harvard is near the top of the crop, it’s not No. 1.
Take a look…
Swarthmore College
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Undergrad Enrollment: 1,591
About 20 miles outside of Philadelphia lies Swarthmore, a liberal arts college that has a 9.4% acceptance rate.
University of Pennsylvania
(Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images)
Undergrad Enrollment: 9,779
The Ivy League school opens up the admission logjam of schools that hover around a 9% acceptance rate— the 2024 class was even lower: 8.1%.
Rice University
(AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Steve Campbell)
Undergrad Enrollment: 3,755
Rice University kicks things off with a competitively low 8.7% acceptance rate for the Class of 2023. But things have eased up a bit in 2024 as the number has neared 10%, making the overall range for the next two years closer to 9.3%.
United States Naval Academy
(Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports)
Undergrad Enrollment:
The Navy is equally challenging as any of the top institutions on this list, with only 9.1% of hopefuls gaining acceptance to the Annapolis campus—some classes like 2023 are lower, landing at almost 8%.
Northwestern University
(David Banks-USA TODAY Sports)
Undergrad Enrollment: 8,485
Northwestern has carried a tradition as one of the best reacher universities in the land, but only a select few can call the Big Ten school their alma mater. Like others opening this list, only 9% of the applicants are accepted.
Bowdoin College
(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Undergrad Enrollment: 1,832
Heading up to Maine, we cap off the crop of 9% acceptance rates with Bowdoin College, a private liberal arts school with the distinction of having a graduate at the helm of all three branches of the American federal government. The 2025 class was its most selective, coming in at 8.8%.
Dartmouth College
(Photo by Alison A Redlich, Gannett ORG)
Undergrad Enrollment: 4,193
The ninth-oldest college or university in the U.S., Dartmouth aligns with the Ivy League expectancies, accepting only 8.8% of those who apply.
Johns Hopkins University
(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Undergrad Enrollment: 5,066
It’s the oldest research university in the U.S. and one of the most challenging to attend—an 8.8% acceptance rate.
United States Military Academy
(USA TODAY Network)
Undergrad Enrollment: 4,536
West Point upholds a rigorous acceptance rep, coming in at 8.6%, though numbers seem to be easing a tad in the years ahead (some in the 10%-11% range).
Pomona College
(Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
Undergrad Enrollment: 1,610
The academic prestige of a New England-area institution… without the winters. Just 35 miles outside of Los Angeles, Pomona College is considered one of the top liberal arts schools in the nation. But getting to bask in the SoCal sunshine as a student is not easy—Pomona has carried as low as 7% acceptance rate, with the current number near 8.6%.
Duke University
Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports
Undergrad Enrollment: 6,546
North Carolina’s gem of research academia received some 49,555 applications in 2021. Out of that, only 7.4% were accepted.
Juilliard School
(Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
Overall Enrollment: 850-900 students
Juilliard has a longstanding history as one of the—if not the— finest performing arts institutions in the country, so there’s little surprise at the competitive nature that awaits for those hoping to attend the Manhattan-area school. As of 2020, the conservatory only accepts around 7.2% of applicants.
Brown University
(AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Undergrad Enrollment: 6,834
Rhode Island’s prestigious Ivy League school leads off the next crop of low-acceptance institutions. The research university has an 6.9% acceptance rate based on the 2024 class.
California Institute of Technology
(Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY)
Undergrad Enrollment: 987
With under 1,000 students, Caltech is a highly selective school. Considered one of the best globally, only 6.7% of hopeful applicants get accepted to the Pasadena, California campus.
Yale University
(Photo by Yana Paskova/Getty Images)
Undergrad Enrollment: 5,296
Next on the list takes us to New Haven, Connecticut, where Ivy League royalty awaits—but might not let you in… Yale’s acceptance rate: 6.5%
University of Chicago
(AP Photo/Shafkat Anowar, File)
Undergrad Enrollment: 5,388
Rhodes Scholars, Pulitzer Prize winners, an impressive list of alumni that includes everything from Gold medalists to Fields Medalists —there’s little wonder why the university is so selective. A mere 6.2% of applicants for the 2024 class have been accepted to the Hyde Park neighborhood establishment.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Undergrad Enrollment: 5,388
Few abbreviations create an immediate reaction to the demanding enrollment process of elite institutions more quickly than M.I.T.—and for good reason: the latest numbers show that the acceptance rate has dropped to 6.2%.
Columbia University
(USA TODAY Network)
Undergrad Enrollment: 6,027
As expected, New York’s oldest institution of higher learning is one of the toughest to get into in the U.S. Columbia’s liberal arts and sciences have a top-tier reputation, with an alumni list that reads like a history book. The current acceptance rate for 2024? A demanding 6.1%.
Princeton University
(USA TODAY Network)
Undergrad Enrollment: 5,249
Princeton is unlike the other Ivy League universities in that the institution doesn’t have a law school or business school. But the reputation of Princeton’s other offerings still makes it one of the most challenging schools to attend—the 2024 class is looking at a 5.6% acceptance rate.
Harvard University
(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Undergrad Enrollment: 6,676
Harvard had a decrease in applicants, but that didn’t affect the iconic institution’s highly selective acceptance rate—the 2024 class faces a 4.5% chance of enrolling at the Ivy League school.
Stanford University
(Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
Undergrad Enrollment: 7,603
Silicon Valley’s gem has been considered a top school for years, with the business program mentioned near the top in the U.S. And the latest acceptance rate shows how that reputation has increased the challenges of becoming a student there. The 2024 class dealt with a mind-boggling low rate of 4.3%.
Curtis Institute of Music
(AP Photo/The Inquirer, Tom Gralish)
Undergrad Enrollment: 179
While all of these institutions of higher learning are extremely difficult to get into, none can currently challenge the rigorous process of this small conservatory in Philadelphia. The Curtis Institute of Music’s 2020 admittance numbers were around 4%, lower than Harvard or any Ivy League program.
The two-step process, the second being an audition, most likely makes the number that low—and is something a school like Harvard doesn’t require. But still. WOW!
And the 2021 acceptance rate really caught our eye—a shockingly low 2.4%.
