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Low Acceptance Rate

2025 Tightest Colleges To Admit Rankings

The acceptance rate is the percentage of students who are allowed to admitted. It is calculated by dividing the number of accepted students by the number of applicants. The "admitted" does not mean that all admitted students would enroll to school. An admitted student may or may not enroll to school and the term "Yield", also known as enrollment rate, is used to represent the percentage of enrolled students over admitted students.

Suppose that 1,500 students have applied, 500 students have allowed to admit, and finally 200 students have enrolled to a school. In this case, the acceptance rate is 33.33% (500 / 1,500 * 100) and the yield (enrollment rate is ) 40% (200 / 500 * 100).

In general, the lower the acceptance rate, the harder it is admitted to school. In fact, the acceptance rate of most top ranked schools is low and the schools tend to keep their acceptance rate low.

Minerva University has the tightest acceptance rate (1.00%) and California Institute of Technology has the second lowest rate (2.69%) based on academic year 2022-2023 admission data.

Below table ranks and compares the Tightest Colleges To Admit having lowest acceptance rate. For the acceptance rate rankings, we only include 4-year colleges that have competitive admission.

Tightest Colleges To Admit

Rank	College Name	Applicants	Admitted	Enrolled	Acceptance Rate	Yield	Tuition & Fees	Student Population	SAT Score
1	Minerva University San Francisco, CA	20,816	208	150	1.0%	72.1%	$18,700	656	-
9	California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA	16,626	448	224	2.7%	50.0%	$63,255	2,463	-
4	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	61,221	1,984	1,646	3.2%	83.0%	$59,076	30,386	1,550
2	Stanford University Stanford, CA	56,378	2,075	1,736	3.7%	83.7%	$62,484	18,446	1,550
6	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	60,879	2,404	1,540	3.9%	64.1%	$68,171	35,279	1,540
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	33,767	1,337	1,136	4.0%	85.0%	$60,156	11,920	1,550
8	Yale University New Haven, CT	50,060	2,289	1,554	4.6%	67.9%	$64,700	15,081	1,540
12	Brown University Providence, RI	50,649	2,562	1,717	5.1%	67.0%	$68,230	11,516	1,540
5	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	37,522	2,039	1,729	5.4%	84.8%	$65,619	18,339	1,550
3	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	38,019	2,167	1,499	5.7%	69.2%	$59,710	8,922	1,540
10	Duke University Durham, NC	50,016	3,174	1,745	6.3%	55.0%	$65,805	17,112	1,550
13	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	28,336	1,808	1,124	6.4%	62.2%	$65,511	6,746	1,540
7	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	54,588	3,549	2,409	6.5%	67.9%	$66,104	28,711	1,540
15	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	46,377	3,093	1,619	6.7%	52.3%	$63,946	13,456	1,540
52	Northeastern University Boston, MA	91,000	6,191	2,519	6.8%	40.7%	$63,141	31,159	1,500
20	Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA	14,707	1,019	433	6.9%	42.5%	$62,412	1,644	1,530
16	Pomona College Claremont, CA	10,666	749	413	7.0%	55.1%	$62,326	1,664	1,520
11	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	51,261	3,695	2,038	7.2%	55.2%	$65,997	23,203	1,530
23	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	37,844	2,745	1,406	7.3%	51.2%	$62,840	30,362	1,550
22	Amherst College Amherst, MA	14,864	1,079	467	7.3%	43.3%	$67,280	1,910	1,500
17	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	69,195	5,168	3,491	7.5%	67.6%	$66,014	26,264	1,520
37	Colby College Waterville, ME	16,890	1,286	673	7.6%	52.3%	$66,600	2,284	1,510
30	Williams College Williamstown, MA	15,321	1,302	577	8.5%	44.3%	$64,860	2,168	1,530
56	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	149,801	12,845	6,462	8.6%	50.3%	$44,524	46,678	-
14	Rice University Houston, TX	31,443	2,730	1,203	8.7%	44.1%	$58,128	8,556	1,550
24	Barnard College New York, NY	12,009	1,056	697	8.8%	66.0%	$66,246	3,353	1,510
38	Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME	9,376	862	508	9.2%	58.9%	$64,910	1,850	1,510
32	Tufts University Medford, MA	34,882	3,381	1,695	9.7%	50.1%	$67,844	13,274	1,510
28	Claremont McKenna College Claremont, CA	5,709	591	322	10.4%	54.5%	$64,150	1,384	1,510
54	United States Naval Academy Annapolis, MD	12,927	1,390	1,184	10.8%	85.2%	-	4,465	1,300
39	Grinnell College Grinnell, IA	9,997	1,076	437	10.8%	40.6%	$64,862	1,775	1,490
18	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	34,261	3,873	1,716	11.3%	44.3%	$63,274	15,596	1,540
59	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	128,209	14,523	6,728	11.3%	46.3%	$45,627	45,699	-
33	Emory University Atlanta, GA	33,179	3,767	1,424	11.4%	37.8%	$60,774	15,046	1,520
36	Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA	31,615	3,621	1,843	11.5%	50.9%	$65,538	13,078	1,450
21	Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO	32,014	3,764	1,813	11.8%	48.2%	$62,982	16,500	1,540
60	Hamilton College Clinton, NY	9,899	1,166	478	11.8%	41.0%	$62,740	2,048	1,490
70	United States Military Academy West Point, NY	12,559	1,501	1,173	12.0%	78.1%	-	4,508	1,330
27	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	69,062	8,304	3,420	12.0%	41.2%	$68,237	47,147	1,510
26	Georgetown University Washington, DC	26,638	3,257	1,586	12.2%	48.7%	$65,081	20,392	1,500
67	Colgate University Hamilton, NY	21,109	2,624	812	12.4%	30.9%	$67,024	3,146	1,480
25	New York University New York, NY	100,662	12,539	6,184	12.5%	49.3%	$60,438	57,335	1,530
34	Middlebury College Middlebury, VT	12,952	1,644	639	12.7%	38.9%	$65,280	2,857	1,490
19	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	26,509	3,421	2,037	12.9%	59.5%	$62,693	13,174	1,500
31	Wellesley College Wellesley, MA	8,491	1,152	585	13.6%	50.8%	$64,320	2,418	1,510
123	Bates College Lewiston, ME	8,273	1,137	518	13.7%	45.6%	$63,478	1,753	1,450
50	Haverford College Haverford, PA	5,657	804	362	14.2%	45.0%	$68,020	1,424	1,490
42	Boston University Boston, MA	80,796	11,607	3,635	14.4%	31.3%	$65,168	36,624	1,470
62	Wesleyan University Middletown, CT	14,521	2,096	743	14.4%	35.4%	$67,016	3,271	1,510
2	Emory University-Oxford College Oxford, GA	20,099	3,015	422	15.0%	14.0%	$60,774	973	1,510
72	United States Air Force Academy USAF Academy, CO	8,353	1,356	1,056	16.2%	77.9%	-	4,124	1,350
83	Colorado College Colorado Springs, CO	7,846	1,279	534	16.3%	41.8%	$67,932	2,173	1,450
35	Carleton College Northfield, MN	8,583	1,427	532	16.6%	37.3%	$65,457	2,069	1,500
53	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	40,494	6,748	2,335	16.7%	34.6%	$67,680	15,280	1,490
90	Davidson College Davidson, NC	6,479	1,098	542	16.9%	49.4%	$60,050	1,904	1,455
41	Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA	7,224	1,225	476	17.0%	38.9%	$64,525	2,277	1,490
49	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	56,341	9,639	4,435	17.1%	46.0%	$39,330	32,234	1,470
44	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA	50,610	8,672	3,647	17.1%	42.1%	$32,876	47,946	1,450
3	Rhode Island School of Design Providence, RI	5,099	888	481	17.4%	54.2%	$59,760	2,540	1,490
57	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	84,289	14,914	7,050	17.7%	47.3%	$60,107	52,065	1,470
61	Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY	11,412	2,129	681	18.7%	32.0%	$67,805	2,456	1,510
43	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA	50,926	9,503	4,022	18.7%	42.3%	$59,633	25,924	1,490
55	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	49,169	9,312	2,371	18.9%	25.5%	$59,926	19,593	1,400
228	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA	119,191	25,212	5,664	21.2%	22.5%	$45,014	36,582	-
84	Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC	16,857	3,602	1,370	21.4%	38.0%	$64,758	9,121	1,460
444	Denison University Granville, OH	12,220	2,684	683	22.0%	25.4%	$64,000	2,405	1,380
4	Babson College Wellesley, MA	7,607	1,700	656	22.3%	38.6%	$56,032	3,943	1,440
112	Smith College Northampton, MA	7,269	1,662	619	22.9%	37.2%	$61,568	2,830	1,480
46	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	64,473	15,054	6,612	23.3%	43.9%	$28,659	54,814	1,390
66	Villanova University Villanova, PA	23,835	5,576	1,779	23.4%	31.9%	$64,701	10,111	1,460
174	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	131,197	31,103	6,546	23.7%	21.0%	$46,042	42,376	-
210	University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA	14,364	3,501	851	24.4%	24.3%	$62,600	3,776	1,470
108	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	78,088	19,552	6,033	25.0%	30.9%	$21,683	43,234	1,310
177	Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, NY	13,183	3,367	784	25.5%	23.3%	$64,880	2,776	1,370
164	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	110,995	28,688	4,967	25.8%	17.3%	$45,742	26,068	-
5	American Musical and Dramatic Academy New York, NY	8,158	2,109	470	25.9%	22.3%	$45,560	1,511	-
323	The University of Tampa Tampa, FL	40,286	10,615	1,878	26.3%	17.7%	$33,424	11,054	-
78	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH	38,701	10,607	1,553	27.4%	14.6%	$64,678	12,266	1,490
769	Spelman College Atlanta, GA	13,649	3,875	577	28.4%	14.9%	$30,058	3,633	1,180
133	Macalester College Saint Paul, MN	8,434	2,397	552	28.4%	23.0%	$64,908	2,142	1,410
370	Tuskegee University Tuskegee, AL	12,043	3,575	533	29.7%	14.9%	$23,440	2,846	1,125
469	Alcorn State University Alcorn State, MS	6,748	2,020	498	29.9%	24.7%	$8,549	2,894	920
205	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	58,774	17,885	5,110	30.4%	28.6%	$30,995	22,485	-
280	Trinity University San Antonio, TX	11,463	3,497	655	30.5%	18.7%	$51,352	2,694	1,390
698	Reed College Portland, OR	9,023	2,779	394	30.8%	14.2%	$67,020	1,458	1,410
40	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	60,055	18,830	9,109	31.4%	48.4%	$42,778	53,082	1,370
313	Regent University Virginia Beach, VA	6,989	2,260	522	32.3%	23.1%	$20,686	10,168	1,160
115	Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA	11,707	3,811	1,034	32.6%	27.1%	$64,772	3,892	1,370
595	Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Tallahassee, FL	12,372	4,074	1,520	32.9%	37.3%	$17,725	9,265	1,090
80	William & Mary Williamsburg, VA	18,087	6,059	1,642	33.5%	27.1%	$49,412	9,762	1,450
141	Lafayette College Easton, PA	10,500	3,531	757	33.6%	21.4%	$61,824	2,764	1,410
111	Kenyon College Gambier, OH	8,116	2,784	531	34.3%	19.1%	$69,330	2,184	1,440
91	Oberlin College Oberlin, OH	11,066	3,859	882	34.9%	22.9%	$64,646	2,976	1,440
255	Dickinson College Carlisle, PA	8,261	2,885	577	34.9%	20.0%	$63,450	2,217	-
161	Trinity College Hartford, CT	6,220	2,248	565	36.1%	25.1%	$67,420	2,276	1,390
638	Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster, PA	8,923	3,233	487	36.2%	15.1%	$68,380	1,911	1,390
94	College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA	7,036	2,558	903	36.4%	35.3%	$60,850	3,035	1,340
58	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	15,163	5,607	1,511	37.0%	26.9%	$62,180	7,590	1,430
197	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	94,747	35,377	6,399	37.3%	18.1%	$46,024	39,707	-
64	University of Rochester Rochester, NY	19,966	7,768	1,625	38.9%	20.9%	$64,348	12,160	1,480