10 Most Selective US Colleges

Based on the 2011 data, the top 10 colleges that had sent out the greatest percentage of rejection letters were:

10. Caltech (California Institute of Technology)

• Acceptance Rate: 13% (2011 data)
• Location: Pasadena, California
• Enrollment: 967 undergraduate
• School Type: Small private university with engineering focus

9. University of Pennsylvania

• Acceptance Rate: 12% (2011 data)
• Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Enrollment: 11,940 undergraduate
• School Type: Private comprehensive university- Ivy League
  

8. Dartmouth College

• Acceptance Rate: 12% (2011 data)
• Location: Hanover, New Hampshire
• Enrollment: 4,248 undergraduate
• School Type: Private comprehensive university- Ivy League

7. MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

• Acceptance Rate: 10% (2011 data)
• Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Enrollment: 4,299 undergraduates
• School Type: Private university with engineering focus

6. Columbia University

• Acceptance Rate: 10% (2011 data)
• Location: New York, New York
• Enrollment: 7,950 undergraduates
• School Type: Private comprehensive university- Ivy League

5. Brown University

• Acceptance Rate: 9% (2011 data)
• Location: Providence, Rhode Island
• Enrollment: 6,318 undergraduates
• School Type: Private comprehensive university- Ivy League

4. Princeton University

• Acceptance Rate: 8% (2011 data)
• Location: Princeton, New Jersey
• Enrollment: 5,142 undergraduates
• School Type: Private comprehensive university- Ivy League

3. Yale University

• Acceptance Rate: 8% (2011 data)
• Location: New Haven, Connecticut
• Enrollment: 11,701 (5,310 undergraduates)
• School Type: Private comprehensive university- Ivy League
  

2. Stanford University

• Acceptance Rate: 7% (2011 data)
• Location: Stanford, California
• Enrollment: 6,940 undergraduates
• School Type: Private comprehensive university

1. Harvard University

• Acceptance Rate: 6% (2011 data)
• Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Enrollment: 10,265 undergraduates
• School Type: Private comprehensive university- Ivy League

Here you saw the 10 most selective colleges/universities in the U.S. These schools accept a lower percentage of applicants than any others. Also, consider these issues:

• Colleges that are essentially free (although many have a service requirement) were not included in the list. Nevertheless, College of Ozarks, West Point, Berea, 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.
• Schools with a performance- or portfolio-based admissions process such as Julliard and the Curtis Institute of Music were not included.
  
• Selectivity alone doesn't explain how difficult it is to get into a school.