20 Most Selective Colleges and Universities in the U.S.

http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegerankings/tp/most-selective-colleges.01.htm

These Colleges Send Out the Greatest Percentage of Rejection Letters By Allen Grove

Here you'll find the 20 most selective colleges and universities in the U.S. These schools accept a lower percentage of applicants than any others. As you read the list, consider these issues:
• I did not include colleges that are essentially free (although many have a service requirement). Nevertheless, College of the Ozarks, Berea, West Point, Cooper Union, Coast Guard Academy, USAFA, and Annapolis all have extremely low acceptance rates.
• I did not include extremely small places like Deep Springs College and Webb Institute
• I did not include schools with a performance- or portfolio-based admissions process such as Julliard and the Curtis Institute of Music
• Selectivity alone doesn't explain how hard it is to get into a school. Some schools not on this list have students with higher average GPAs and test scores than some schools on the list.

20. Duke University


mricon








• Acceptance Rate: 19% (2010 data)
• Location: Durham, North Carolina
• Enrollment: 14,350 (6,578 undergraduates)
• School Type: Private comprehensive university


19. Washington and Lee University

wsuhonors / Flickr




• Acceptance Rate: 19% (2010 data)
• Location: Lexington, Virginia
• Enrollment: 2,153 (1,759 undergraduates)
• School Type: Private liberal arts university



18. University of Chicago

puroticorico / Flickr





• Acceptance Rate: 19% (2010 data)
• Location: Chicago, Illinois
• Enrollment: 15,094 (5,114 undergraduates)
• School Type: Private comprehensive university



17. Vanderbilt University

Zeamays / Wikimedia Commons








• Acceptance Rate: 18% (2010 data)
• Location: Nashville, Tennessee
• Enrollment: 12,506 (6,794 undergraduates)
• School Type: Private comprehensive university


16. Cornell University

Photo Credit: Allen Grove







• Acceptance Rate: 18% (2010 data)
• Location: Ithaca, New York
• Enrollment: 20,633 (13,931 undergraduates)
• School Type: Private comprehensive university (Ivy League)


15. Middlebury College

khanqpa / flickr








• Acceptance Rate: 17% (2010 data)
• Location: Middlebury, Vermont
• Enrollment: 2,482 (all undergraduate)
• School Type: Private liberal arts college


 14. Claremont McKenna College

Bazookajoe1 / Wikimedia Commons

• Acceptance Rate: 17% (2010 data)
• Location: Claremont, California
• Enrollment: 1,238 (all undergraduate)
• School Type: Private liberal arts college


 13. Swarthmore College

EAWB / flickr

• Acceptance Rate: 16% (2010 data)
• Location: Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
• Enrollment: 1,525 (all undergraduate)
• School Type: Private liberal arts college


 12. Amherst College

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• Acceptance Rate: 15% (2010 data)
• Location: Amherst, Massachusetts (five-college area)
• Enrollment: 1,744 (all undergraduate)
• School Type: Private liberal arts college


11. Pomona College

CMLLovesDegus / Wikimedia Commons





• Acceptance Rate: 15% (2010 data)
• Location: Claremont, California
• Enrollment: 1,550 (all undergraduate)
• School Type: Private liberal arts college



10. University of Pennsylvania

rubberpaw / Flickr

• Acceptance Rate: 14% (2010 data)
• Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Enrollment: 24,599 (11,954 undergraduates)
• School Type: Private comprehensive university (Ivy League)



9. Dartmouth College

Brave Sir Robin / flickr





• Acceptance Rate: 13% (2010 data)
• Location: Hanover, New Hampshire
• Enrollment: 5,987 (4,196 undergraduates)
• School Type: Private comprehensive university (Ivy League)



8. Caltech (California Institute of Technology)

Velo Steve / Flickr

• Acceptance Rate: 13% (2010 data)
• Location: Pasadena, California
• Enrollment: 2,130 (951 undergraduates)
• School Type: Small private university with engineering focus



7. MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

controltheweb / Flickr

• Acceptance Rate: 10% (2010 data)
• Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Enrollment: 10,384 (4,232 undergraduates)
• School Type: Private university with engineering focus



6. Columbia University

Yandi / Flickr





• Acceptance Rate: 10% (2010 data)
• Location: New York, New York
• Enrollment: 24,230 (7,743 undergraduates)
• School Type: Private comprehensive university (Ivy League)



5. Brown University

_Gene_ Flickr

• Acceptance Rate: 9% (2010 data)
• Location: Providence, Rhode Island
• Enrollment: 8,574 (6,244 undergraduates)
• School Type: Private comprehensive university (Ivy League)



4. Princeton University

_Gene_ / Flickr





• Acceptance Rate: 9% (2010 data)
• Location: Princeton, New Jersey
• Enrollment: 7,592 (5,113 undergraduates)
• School Type: Private comprehensive university (Ivy League)



3. Yale University

interrupt / Flickr

• Acceptance Rate: 8% (2010 data)
• Location: New Haven, Connecticut
• Enrollment: 11,701 (5,310 undergraduates)
• School Type: Private comprehensive university (Ivy League)



2. Stanford University

Paraflyer / Flickr

• Acceptance Rate: 7% (2010 data)
• Location: Stanford, California
• Enrollment: 18,498 (6,602 undergraduates)
• School Type: Private comprehensive university



1. Harvard University

David Paul Ohmer / flickr

• Acceptance Rate: 7% (2010 data)
• Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Enrollment: 27,651 (10,257 undergraduates)
• School Type: Private comprehensive university (Ivy League)