U.S. Colleges that are Hardest to Get Into
Colleges with the Lowest Acceptance Rate in America for 2020
These are the most selective public and private four-year colleges in the United States. The list is ranked by acceptance rate, lowest to highest and limited to schools which reject at least half of all applicants. Leading the list is Stanford University which sent acceptance letters to only 4% of the 47,452 students who applied and rejected 96%.
Not all schools on the most selective list are overly academically challenging. Some schools with less rigorous test and high school GPA requirements may receive a large numbers of qualified applicants and the school does not have space to admit them all.
If you're looking for challenging colleges, you can also explore US rankings of the colleges with the highest SAT scores, highest ACT scores and highest GPA's.
313 Results (0.11 seconds)
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1420/1570
- ACT Range 32/35
- Average HS GPA 4.18
- Students: 17,381
- Tuition:$51,354
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 4%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1460/1580
- ACT Range 33/35
- Average HS GPA 4.04
- Students: 31,566
- Tuition:$50,420
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 5%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1440/1570
- ACT Range 32/35
- Average HS GPA 3.87
- Students: 8,374
- Tuition:$50,340
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 5%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1460/1570
- ACT Range 33/35
- Average HS GPA 3.95*
- Students: 13,433
- Tuition:$53,430
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 6%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1450/1560
- ACT Range 33/35
- Average HS GPA 3.91*
- Students: 31,077
- Tuition:$59,430
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 6%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1530/1580
- ACT Range 35/36
- Average HS GPA 3.97*
- Students: 2,233
- Tuition:$52,362
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 7%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1470/1570
- ACT Range 33/35
- Average HS GPA 4.0
- Students: 17,002
- Tuition:$58,230
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 7%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1500/1570
- ACT Range 34/36
- Average HS GPA 3.96*
- Students: 11,574
- Tuition:$51,832
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 7%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1400/1540
- ACT Range 31/34
- Average HS GPA 3.89*
- Students: 1,573
- Tuition:$52,780
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 8%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1430/1550
- ACT Range 33/35
- Average HS GPA 3.92*
- Students: 22,127
- Tuition:$54,568
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 8%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range N/A
- ACT Range N/A
- Average HS GPA NA
- Students: 942
- Tuition:$45,110
- Acceptance Rate 8%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1420/1550
- ACT Range 32/35
- Average HS GPA 3.9
- Students: 25,860
- Tuition:$55,584
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 8%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1420/1550
- ACT Range 32/35
- Average HS GPA 3.94*
- Students: 10,257
- Tuition:$55,466
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 8%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1350/1500
- ACT Range 31/34
- Average HS GPA 3.89*
- Students: 1,327
- Tuition:$54,405
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 9%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1150/1370
- ACT Range 26/32
- Average HS GPA 3.8*
- Students: 4,512
- Tuition:$0
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Admissions Standards Very High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 9%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1420/1560
- ACT Range 31/35
- Average HS GPA 3.9*
- Students: 6,572
- Tuition:$55,453
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 9%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1450/1570
- ACT Range 33/35
- Average HS GPA 3.94*
- Students: 16,606
- Tuition:$55,695
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 9%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1380/1550
- ACT Range 31/34
- Average HS GPA 3.9*
- Students: 1,559
- Tuition:$52,588
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 9%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range N/A
- ACT Range N/A
- Average HS GPA NA
- Students: 1,828
- Tuition:$53,922
- Acceptance Rate 10%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1450/1560
- ACT Range 33/35
- Average HS GPA 3.76
- Students: 12,824
- Tuition:$49,816
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 10%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1230/1410
- ACT Range 28/33
- Average HS GPA 3.88
- Students: 4,336
- Tuition:$0
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Admissions Standards Extremely High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 11%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1450/1560
- ACT Range 33/35
- Average HS GPA 3.74
- Students: 26,152
- Tuition:$53,740
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 11%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1390/1540
- ACT Range 32/34
- Average HS GPA 3.9*
- Students: 23,600
- Tuition:$55,188
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 11%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1140/1350
- ACT Range 27/33
- Average HS GPA 3.6*
- Students: 4,589
- Tuition:$0
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Admissions Standards Very High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 11%
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photo credit / license
- SAT Range 1450/1560
- ACT Range 33/35
- Average HS GPA 3.96*
- Students: 7,124
- Tuition:$47,350
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Admissions Standards Exceptionally High Standards
- Acceptance Rate 11%
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