The 50 Most Selective Colleges in the US
The lowest admission rates in the country - and what they mean. Ranked from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard - 50 institutions with complete data.
| # | College | Acceptance rate | Net price | Salary (10yr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA - Overall acceptance rate | 3% | $8,509 | $166,642 |
| 2 | Stanford University Stanford, CA - Overall acceptance rate | 4% | $12,307 | $125,340 |
| 3 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA - Overall acceptance rate | 4% | $19,148 | $121,957 |
| 4 | Yale University New Haven, CT - Overall acceptance rate | 4% | $11,340 | $118,356 |
| 5 | Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY - Overall acceptance rate | 4% | $15,370 | $109,430 |
| 6 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL - Overall acceptance rate | 4% | $16,776 | $103,872 |
| 7 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA - Overall acceptance rate | 5% | $14,815 | $152,553 |
| 8 | Princeton University Princeton, NJ - Overall acceptance rate | 5% | $7,815 | $133,523 |
| 9 | Northeastern University Boston, MA - Overall acceptance rate | 5% | $17,850 | $99,371 |
| 10 | Brown University Providence, RI - Overall acceptance rate | 5% | $26,976 | $99,974 |
| 11 | Dartmouth College Hanover, NH - Overall acceptance rate | 5% | $26,707 | $111,162 |
| 12 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA - Overall acceptance rate | 5% | $29,577 | $121,687 |
| 13 | Duke University Durham, NC - Overall acceptance rate | 6% | $23,706 | $113,937 |
| 14 | Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN - Overall acceptance rate | 6% | $15,497 | $99,080 |
| 15 | Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD - Overall acceptance rate | 6% | $18,431 | $104,590 |
| 16 | Pomona College Claremont, CA - Overall acceptance rate | 7% | $18,978 | $84,281 |
| 17 | Colby College Waterville, ME - Overall acceptance rate | 7% | $19,835 | $88,776 |
| 18 | Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME - Overall acceptance rate | 7% | $15,595 | $90,153 |
| 19 | Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA - Overall acceptance rate | 7% | $17,392 | $86,311 |
| 20 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL - Overall acceptance rate | 8% | $34,420 | $104,255 |
| 21 | Rice University Houston, TX - Overall acceptance rate | 8% | $11,164 | $90,773 |
| 22 | Williams College Williamstown, MA - Overall acceptance rate | 8% | $15,157 | $95,954 |
| 23 | Cornell University Ithaca, NY - Overall acceptance rate | 9% | $33,934 | $113,531 |
| 24 | Barnard College New York, NY - Overall acceptance rate | 9% | $28,930 | $98,280 |
| 25 | Amherst College Amherst, MA - Overall acceptance rate | 9% | $19,536 | $95,161 |
| 26 | United States Naval Academy Annapolis, MD - Overall acceptance rate | 9% | — | — |
| 27 | Claremont McKenna College Claremont, CA - Overall acceptance rate | 10% | $26,039 | $127,532 |
| 28 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA - Overall acceptance rate | 10% | $33,056 | $103,420 |
| 29 | Stanbridge University Irvine, CA - Overall acceptance rate | 10% | $25,124 | $67,293 |
| 30 | Emory University Atlanta, GA - Overall acceptance rate | 11% | $16,754 | $93,897 |
| 31 | Middlebury College Middlebury, VT - Overall acceptance rate | 11% | $32,102 | $85,077 |
| 32 | Boston University Boston, MA - Overall acceptance rate | 11% | $36,503 | $89,087 |
| 33 | University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN - Overall acceptance rate | 11% | $25,339 | $113,124 |
| 34 | Tufts University Medford, MA - Overall acceptance rate | 11% | $38,797 | $89,187 |
| 35 | Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA - Overall acceptance rate | 12% | $35,780 | $125,257 |
| 36 | College of the Ozarks Point Lookout, MO - Overall acceptance rate | 12% | $13,114 | $47,246 |
| 37 | Washington University in St Louis St. Louis, MO - Overall acceptance rate | 12% | $13,360 | $91,497 |
| 38 | Haverford College Haverford, PA - Overall acceptance rate | 12% | $31,075 | $76,397 |
| 39 | United States Military Academy West Point, NY - Overall acceptance rate | 12% | — | — |
| 40 | Harvey Mudd College Claremont, CA - Overall acceptance rate | 13% | $39,347 | $164,248 |
| 41 | Georgetown University Washington, DC - Overall acceptance rate | 13% | $33,661 | $110,516 |
| 42 | Emory University-Oxford College Oxford, GA - Overall acceptance rate | 13% | $33,917 | $93,897 |
| 43 | Bates College Lewiston, ME - Overall acceptance rate | 13% | $27,390 | $98,373 |
| 44 | Davidson College Davidson, NC - Overall acceptance rate | 13% | $15,060 | $89,297 |
| 45 | Hamilton College Clinton, NY - Overall acceptance rate | 14% | $25,793 | $84,956 |
| 46 | Colgate University Hamilton, NY - Overall acceptance rate | 14% | $29,409 | $96,328 |
| 47 | Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA - Overall acceptance rate | 14% | $25,279 | $102,966 |
| 48 | Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA - Overall acceptance rate | 14% | $40,693 | $68,226 |
| 49 | Wellesley College Wellesley, MA - Overall acceptance rate | 14% | $23,995 | $90,458 |
| 50 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA - Overall acceptance rate | 14% | $12,028 | $114,210 |
How this ranking works
We rank institutions on a single College Scorecard metric. Only colleges with at least 500 students and complete reported data are included. Averages hide variation by major and family income - treat the table as a shortlist, then verify each school's official numbers.
Next step: run your own numbers
Once you have a shortlist, model the full picture: estimate your admission odds in the Admission Chances tool, simulate the payback in the Degree ROI Simulator, and plan the borrowing in the Loan Payoff Planner. More rankings and all state guides live in the US colleges database.