The Most Selective Colleges, Why, and How to Get In

The Most Selective Colleges, Why, and How to Get In SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips It's tempting to judge the quality of a school based on its admissions rate. Although this is a reasonable way to assess schools in most cases, there are some special circumstances that might result in extremely low acceptance rates at less academically demanding colleges. In this article, I'll list the most selective colleges in the United States, tell you why they accept so few of their applicants, and provide some advice on how to apply successfully. What Are Selective Colleges, and Why Are They So Picky? Selective colleges are schools that only admit a small percentage of the students who apply. For this article, I'm focusing on the most selective schools in the country, which I've defined as schools that admit less than 10% of applicants. There are several reasons why certain colleges end up with such low acceptance rates. Some schools are extremely selective because they’re looking for a certain specialized type of applicant, and very few students fit the bill. This category would include a school like Juilliard, which is only interested in admitting students who demonstrate virtuosity in music. Students must audition in front of members of the faculty as one of their application requirements. This group also includes military schools like West Point, where candidates must pass a physical fitness assessment and obtain a nomination from their representative in Congress or the Senate to be considered for admission. Other colleges are extremely selective because they’re looking for students with excellent credentials overall, and they can only afford to take the most high-achieving individuals out of the huge applicant pool they attract. These schools represent an intersection of popularity and very high standards. This includes Ivy League schools and schools like Stanford and MIT. These schools have strong name recognition even on an international level, so they attract a huge number of applicants. In 2018-19, Harvard offered admission to only 1,950 students out of 43,330 total applicants! In order to maintain their reputations, these schools can only choose the most outstanding students for each class. Usually, it takes more than just excellent grades and test scores to get in; you'll need these qualifications on top of other unique academic and extracurricular accomplishments. I'll go over the schools that fall into each of these categories in the next section. I assume this was the fate of most applications in the primitive time before the Internet. The Most Selective Colleges I've grouped the following selective colleges into two main categories: non-specialized schools and specialized schools. Non-Specialized Selective Schools First, I'll list some schools that have low admission rates because they're extremely popular and can only choose the strongest overall applicants. They're listed in descending order, starting with the most selective school. I'll also give you the statistics for the average GPA and SAT/ACT scores of admitted students. Keep in mind that even if your scores and GPA are technically at the same level as the averages at these schools, you can’t count on being accepted. Any school that has an acceptance rate of less than 15% is a reach school even for the best students, and any school with an acceptance rate of less than 30% is still very selective. College Name Acceptance Rate Average GPA Average SAT Average ACT Stanford 4.8% 3.95 1465 33 Harvard 5.2% 4.10 1520 34 Columbia 6.1% 4.14 1515 34 Yale 6.3% 4.12 1505 34 Princeton 6.4% 3.90 1500 33 MIT 7.2% 4.16 1528 34 Caltech 7.7% 4.22 1560 35 Pomona 8.4% 4.01 1450 32 University of Chicago 8.7% 4.29 1530 34 Claremont McKenna 9.0% 4.09 1490 32 Northwestern 9.2% 4.09 1490 33 Brown 9.3% 4.09 1488 32 UPenn 9.3% 3.93 1490 33 Dartmouth 10.4% 4.07 1478 32 Vanderbilt 10.7% 3.80 1475 34 Duke 10.8% 4.08 1485 33 The University of Chicago: subtly (or not so subtly) trying to inch its way into the Ivy League? Specialized Selective Schools Now I’ll list schools that are extremely selective because they have specialized programs and are looking for specific types of applicants. I'll also include the average GPA and test scores for each of these schools, although be aware that some of them do not report these statistics. In the case of highly selective music schools, test scores and grades are less relevant to a student’s likelihood of acceptance. These schools consider musical talent more strongly than academic performance. In this section, I’ve included a description of exactly why each school is so selective as well. College Name Acceptance Rate Average GPA Average SAT/ACT Why Is It So Selective? Curtis Institute of Music 4.0% Not reported Not reported This school is only looking for the most elite music students, and admission is "based on artistic promise alone." Curtis Institute also provides a full tuition scholarship to all of its students. These factors combined create an acceptance rate below that of even the most competitive colleges on the first list. The Juilliard School 5.9% Not reported Not reported Like the Curtis Institute of Music, Juilliard is only looking for a very specific and very talented subset of students. Students must audition for faculty members as a part of the application process, and performance standards are extraordinarily high. US Naval Academy 8.5% 3.94 1410 / 31 In order to attend the US Naval Academy, students must apply for and receive a nomination from a US representative, a senator, or the vice president. Students must also pass a physical fitness assessment and a medical examination. Academic standards are very high, so there is only a small subset of students who meet all the necessary requirements. US Military Academy (West Point) 9.6% 3.73 1300 / 25 West Point has such a low acceptance rate because it requires students to pass muster in other ways besides earning high test scores and grades. Applicants must complete a physical fitness assessment where they have to do as many push-ups as they can in two minutes (for me, this would be about 0.5), run a mile as fast as possible, and do a few other tests for agility and strength. They also have to apply for a nomination from a congressperson or senator from their state or from the vice president. Only students whose requests for nominations are granted will be offered a spot at West Point. Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art 13.1% 3.50 1393 / 31 Cooper Union is an all-honors college where every student receives a half-tuition scholarship and is automatically considered for additional merit scholarships; it also has highly specialized programs in architecture, fine arts, and engineering. Students applying to each of the schools must take "home tests" designed by Cooper Union to determine their skill levels. Admission is based significantly on creative abilities in addition to high academic standing, which makes Cooper Union both popular and picky. Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering 13.4% 3.90 1497 / 34 The small size of the student body (fewer than 100 students are accepted each year), combined with the half-tuition scholarship all accepted students receive, make Olin a desirable and competitive college to get into. Because Olin is an engineering school, students must demonstrate aptitude in areas like calculus and physics in addition to overall academic excellence. West Point graduation looks fun, but they're actually throwing up their hats in a very specific military formation. This is a tactic used to confuse and distract the enemy with its appearance of reckless exuberance. What to Do If You're Aiming for the Most Selective Colleges If you're hoping to attend one of these selective schools, that's great! There's no magic formula for acceptance, but you also don't have to rely on luck if you play your cards right. To have a solid chance of acceptance at one of the non-specialized selective colleges, you'll need to take the most difficult classes throughout high school while earning very high grades. As you can see by the average GPAs for admission at these schools, it's expected that most students will have high school transcripts dominated by As. SAT/ACT test scores are also very important; your scores should be at or above the average for admitted students. Even at non-specialized schools (but especially at specialized schools), it's important to show excellence in one academic or extracurricular area if you want to stand out from the crowd. Since you're competing with so many applicants, and most of them will have academic credentials that are just as good as yours, you need to find a way to demonstrate your value as a member of the college community that goes beyond grades and test scores. The most selective schools appreciate passion, drive, and outside-the-box thinking. If you can develop a specialization that shows them that you possess those qualities, your chances of acceptance will be very strong. Read this article for more advice on what it takes to get into extremely selective schools. What's Next? If you're hoping to attend a highly selective school, you'll need to have a very strong academic record in high school. Learn more about high school honors classes and societies. Not sure what your GPA means for your chances of college admission? Find out what a good or bad GPA might look like based on your goals. College ranking lists can strongly influence how people view the quality of certain schools. Read this article to get a more complete picture of what ranking lists really mean and whether you should trust them. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: