Colleges with the Lowest Acceptance Rate in California for 2022
These are the most selective public and private four-year colleges in California. 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 5% of the 45,227 students who applied and rejected 95%.
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, explore rankings of California colleges with the highest SAT scores, highest ACT scores and highest GPA's.
28 results
Private 4 Year
6 reviews
5% Acceptance Rate
#3 Best Colleges in America
Applications Due Jan 3
Private 4 Year
1 reviews
7% Acceptance Rate
#7 Best Colleges in America
Applications Due Jan 1
Private 4 Year
0 reviews
9% Acceptance Rate
Applications Due Dec 15
Private 4 Year
0 reviews
13% Acceptance Rate
#19 Best Colleges in America
Applications Due Jan 2
Public 4 Year
3 reviews
14% Acceptance Rate
#4 Best Public Universities in America
Applications Due Nov 30
Private 4 Year
5 reviews
16% Acceptance Rate
#4 Best Private Colleges in California
Applications Due Jan 10
Public 4 Year
1 reviews
17% Acceptance Rate
#6 Best Public Universities in America
Applications Due Nov 30
Private 4 Year
0 reviews
17% Acceptance Rate
Applications Due Jan 1
Private 4 Year
1 reviews
18% Acceptance Rate
Applications Due Jan 2
Private 4 Year
1 reviews
25% Acceptance Rate
Applications Due Mar 1
Private 4 Year
0 reviews
27% Acceptance Rate
Applications Due Jan 7
Public 4 Year
2 reviews
30% Acceptance Rate
#10 Best Public Universities in America
Applications Due Nov 30
Private 4 Year
1 reviews
35% Acceptance Rate
Applications Due Jan 1
Public 4 Year
0 reviews
37% Acceptance Rate
#9 Best Public Universities in America
Applications Due Nov 30
Public 4 Year
3 reviews
37% Acceptance Rate
#19 Best Public Universities in America
Applications Due Nov 30
Public 4 Year
3 reviews
37% Acceptance Rate
#10 Best Public Universities in California
Applications Due Nov 30
Public 4 Year
2 reviews
38% Acceptance Rate
#7 Best Public Universities in California
Applications Due Nov 30
Private 4 Year
0 reviews
38% Acceptance Rate
#26 Best Private Colleges in California
Applications Due Jan 1