Most Selective U.S. Colleges
CollegeSimply ranks 249 four-year colleges that accept 50% or fewer of applicants, sorted by acceptance rate from lowest to highest. These are the most selective schools in the U.S.
California Institute of Technology is the most selective, accepting just 3% of 13,856 applicants. Also highly selective: Minerva University, Yale University and University of Chicago.
Selectivity does not always equal academic difficulty. Some schools admit a small share of applicants because demand exceeds capacity, not because admission standards are extreme. If you need safety schools, see our highest acceptance rate colleges. For academically demanding options, explore colleges with the highest SAT, highest ACT, and highest GPA averages.
Boston University
- Private 4 Year
- Boston, MA
-
3.4 | 11 reviews
- 11% acceptance rate
- Jan 4 application deadline
Boston University is a private university known for undergraduate communications, business, and international relations. The urban campus stretches along Commonwealth Avenue beside the Charles River.
- SAT Range 1420-1530
- Avg GPA 3.79
- Net Price $24,420
Tufts University
- Private 4 Year
- Medford, MA
-
4.5 | 2 reviews
- 11% acceptance rate
- Jan 1 application deadline
Tufts is a highly selective private university known for undergraduate international relations and biology. Most undergrads live on a residential hilltop campus in the Boston suburbs of Medford and Somerville.
- SAT Range 1470-1560
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.91
- Net Price $32,367
Middlebury College
- Private 4 Year
- Middlebury, VT
-
| 0 reviews
- 11% acceptance rate
- Jan 1 application deadline
Middlebury is a highly selective liberal arts college known for undergraduate language study, environmental studies, and international affairs. The hillside campus sits in a small college town in Vermont's Champlain Valley.
- SAT Range 1445-1550
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.89
- Net Price $26,233
College of the Ozarks
- Private 4 Year
- Point Lookout, MO
-
| 0 reviews
- 12% acceptance rate
College of the Ozarks is a private Christian liberal arts college known for undergraduate education, agriculture, and business. Most undergrads work required campus jobs that cover the full cost of tuition.
- SAT Range 1050-1220
- Avg GPA 3.71
- Net Price $11,637
Washington University in St Louis
- Private 4 Year
- St. Louis, MO
-
5.0 | 2 reviews
- 12% acceptance rate
- Jan 4 application deadline
WashU is a highly selective private university known for undergraduate biology, business, and engineering. The Danforth campus adjoins Forest Park in suburban St. Louis.
- SAT Range 1500-1570
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.92
- Net Price $22,408
United States Military Academy
- Public 4 Year
- West Point, New York
-
| 0 reviews
- 12% acceptance rate
- Jan 31 application deadline
West Point is a highly selective federal service academy known for undergraduate engineering and leadership training. Cadets live under a structured military regimen on the historic campus overlooking the Hudson River.
- SAT Range 1200-1430
- Avg GPA 4.0
- Net Price -
Carnegie Mellon University
- Private 4 Year
- Pittsburgh, PA
-
| 0 reviews
- 12% acceptance rate
- Jan 1 application deadline
Carnegie Mellon is a highly selective private university known for undergraduate computer science, engineering, and drama. The urban campus sits in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood.
- SAT Range 1500-1570
- Avg GPA 3.89
- Net Price $35,552
Haverford College
- Private 4 Year
- Haverford, PA
-
5.0 | 7 reviews
- 12% acceptance rate
- Jan 15 application deadline
Haverford is a highly selective liberal arts college known for undergraduate sciences, economics, and political science. Students live under a student-run honor code on a suburban campus near Philadelphia.
- SAT Range 1460-1550
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.9
- Net Price $26,535
Harvey Mudd College
- Private 4 Year
- Claremont, CA
-
5.0 | 1 reviews
- 13% acceptance rate
- Jan 5 application deadline
Harvey Mudd is a highly selective private college known for undergraduate engineering, computer science, and mathematics. It is one of the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of adjoining campuses where students can cross-enroll.
- SAT Range 1500-1570
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.96
- Net Price $43,966
Georgetown University
- Private 4 Year
- Washington, DC
-
4.6 | 5 reviews
- 13% acceptance rate
Georgetown is a highly selective private university known for undergraduate international relations, government, and business. Students attend a Jesuit campus in a historic hillside neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
- SAT Range 1390-1550
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.89
- Net Price $39,083
Bates College
- Private 4 Year
- Lewiston, ME
-
| 0 reviews
- 13% acceptance rate
- Jan 1 application deadline
Bates is a highly selective private liberal arts college known for undergraduate political science, economics, and biology. Most students live on the residential campus in the small city of Lewiston.
- SAT Range 1420-1530
- Avg GPA NA
- Net Price $24,723
Davidson College
- Private 4 Year
- Davidson, NC
-
4.0 | 1 reviews
- 13% acceptance rate
- Jan 7 application deadline
Davidson is a highly selective private liberal arts college known for undergraduate economics, political science, and the sciences. An honor code shapes unproctored exams and student self-governance on the residential campus near Charlotte.
- SAT Range 1400-1530
- Avg GPA 3.81
- Net Price $27,720
United States Air Force Academy
- Public 4 Year
- USAF Academy, Colorado
-
4.3 | 6 reviews
- 14% acceptance rate
- Dec 31 application deadline
Air Force Academy is a highly selective federal service academy known for undergraduate aeronautical and astronautical engineering. The campus sits against the Rampart Range near Colorado Springs, and all undergraduates train as cadets.
- SAT Range 1230-1440
- Avg GPA 3.81
- Net Price -
Georgia Institute of Technology Main Campus
- Public 4 Year
- Atlanta, GA
-
| 0 reviews
- 14% acceptance rate
- Jan 4 application deadline
Georgia Tech is a highly selective public university known for undergraduate engineering, computer science, and the sciences. The urban campus sits in midtown Atlanta.
- SAT Range 1370-1540
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.85
- Net Price $15,918
Tulane University of Louisiana
- Private 4 Year
- New Orleans, LA
-
5.0 | 1 reviews
- 14% acceptance rate
- Jan 15 application deadline
Tulane is a private university known for undergraduate public health, business, and architecture. The uptown New Orleans campus sits beside Audubon Park.
- SAT Range 1400-1520
- Avg GPA 3.64
- Net Price $47,427
Wellesley College
- Private 4 Year
- Wellesley, MA
-
5.0 | 1 reviews
- 14% acceptance rate
- Jan 8 application deadline
Wellesley is a highly selective private women's liberal arts college known for undergraduate economics, political science, and the sciences. Most students live on the residential campus in a Boston suburb about twelve miles west of the city.
- SAT Range 1460-1560
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.86
- Net Price $22,174
Colgate University
- Private 4 Year
- Hamilton, NY
-
5.0 | 1 reviews
- 14% acceptance rate
- Jan 15 application deadline
Colgate is a highly selective private liberal arts college known for undergraduate economics, political science, and the sciences. The hillside campus overlooks the small college town of Hamilton in upstate New York.
- SAT Range 1430-1540
- Avg GPA 3.77
- Net Price $28,736
Hamilton College
- Private 4 Year
- Clinton, NY
-
5.0 | 1 reviews
- 14% acceptance rate
- Jan 5 application deadline
Hamilton is a highly selective private liberal arts college known for undergraduate writing, economics, and government. The hilltop campus sits in the small village of Clinton in upstate New York.
- SAT Range 1450-1550
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.87
- Net Price $28,719