The 25 Most Selective Colleges in the US, 2018-2019

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* Green "Yes, connect me!" buttons indicate a featured school

1. Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia, PA): 4% acceptance rate
2. Harvard University (Cambridge, MA): 5% acceptance rate
3. Stanford University (Stanford, CA): 5% acceptance rate

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4. Columbia University (New York, NY): 6% acceptance rate

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5. Juilliard School (New York, NY): 6% acceptance rate
6. Princeton University (Princeton, NJ): 6% acceptance rate

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7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA): 7% acceptance rate
8. Yale University (New Haven, CT): 7% acceptance rate
9. California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA): 8% acceptance rate
10. Pomona College (Claremont, CA): 8% acceptance rate
11. United States Naval Academy (Annapolis, MD): 8% acceptance rate
12. Brown University (Providence, RI): 9% acceptance rate

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13. Northwestern University (Evanston, IL): 9% acceptance rate
14. The University of Chicago (Chicago, IL): 9% acceptance rate

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15. University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA): 9% acceptance rate
16. Claremont McKenna College (Claremont, CA): 10% acceptance rate
17. Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH): 10% acceptance rate
18. Duke University (Durham, NC): 10% acceptance rate

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19. United States Military Academy (West Point, NY): 10% acceptance rate
20. Jarvis Christian College (Hawkins, TX): 11% acceptance rate
21. Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, PA): 11% acceptance rate
22. Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN): 11% acceptance rate

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23. Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD): 12% acceptance rate

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24. United States Air Force Academy (USAF Academy, CO): 12% acceptance rate
25. Amherst College (Amherst, MA): 13% acceptance rate

Want more information on how this list was compiled? Find out more about where our Lists & Rankings come from.

About This List

These colleges have the lowest acceptance rates in the United States. They are the hardest to get into, period. And every year they get even more selective... But at least you still have a better chance of getting into Harvard than being struck by lightning. (Barely.)

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