How hard is it to get into the nation's most selective universities? See the 25 lowest acceptance rates in the US.
· Business Insider
Bloomberg/Getty Images
- Business Insider compiled the nation's 25 universities that are the hardest to get into.
- Eight universities had an acceptance rate of under 5% in 2024.
- Fear of rejection is driving students to apply to more schools, pushing down admission rates.
People are applying to more colleges than ever before, but admission to some of the US's top universities remains highly competitive.
Visit bettingx.bond for more information.
Using federal data from the National Center for Education Statistics, Business Insider compiled a list of the 25 universities in the US that are hardest to get into in 2024.
With a few exceptions, universities are generally larger institutions that offer a wide range of academic programs, including bachelor's and graduate degrees. They also often contain smaller colleges, such as colleges of education, engineering, or health sciences.
For the Class of 2028, admission rates at the hardest-to-get-into schools ranged from roughly 3% to 11% — and among the lowest were at Ivy Leagues, including Yale University, Harvard University, and Columbia University.
For instance, Yale University is the fourth-most competitive university on this list, with just about 4% of its 57,517 applicants admitted. Harvard's is 3.6%.
With acceptance rates at some highly selective schools falling to record lows in the latest admissions cycle, students may increasingly look to less competitive — and often cheaper — options.
A May post by the college consulting firm Top Tier Admissions, declining admission rates are partly driven by students becoming increasingly worried about being rejected by schools, leading to a huge spike in applications per student. That, however, breeds more selectivity, and the cycle continues, the firm said. The increasing use of "early decision" to lock in students has also let universities become choosier during the regular decision cycle.
See the 25 universities across the US with the lowest admission rates in 2024. For context, each school's tuition, applicants, student population, and most popular major were also included.
25. University of Notre DameSOUTH BEND, IN - NOVEMBER 15: The Band of the Fighting Irish march across campus on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (Photo by Evan Cobb for The Washington Post via Getty Images)Evan Cobb for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Location: Notre Dame, Indiana
Applicants: 29,942
Acceptance rate: 11.3%
Student population: 13,000 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $69,280
Most popular major: Finance
24. Boston UniversityBOSTON, MA - APRIL 23: College students file across the BU College of Communication campus at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts on April 23, 2015. (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Location: Boston
Applicants: 78,769
Acceptance rate: 11.1%
Student population: 38,093 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $73,024
Most popular major: Business Administration and Management
23. University of California-BerkeleyBERKELEY, CA - APRIL 17: UC Berkeley students walk through Sather Gate on the UC Berkeley campus April 17, 2007 in Berkeley, California. Robert Dynes, President of the University of California, said the University of California campuses across the state will reevaluate security and safety policies in the wake of the shooting massJustin Sullivan/Getty Images
Location: Berkeley, California
Applicants: 124,242
Acceptance rate: 11.0%
Student population: 45,882 students
2026-2027 Academic Year In-State Tuition: $18,214
Most popular major: Data science
22. Emory Universityoung people are seen on the Emory University campus in Atlanta, Georgia on October 14, 2022. - Riven by angst over a warming planet, fearful for democracy and facing a financially uncertain future, young people tend to be among the most politically engaged groups in the United States.ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP via Getty Images
Location: Atlanta
Applicants: 33,450
Acceptance rate: 10.6%
Student population: 16,000 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $70,300
Most popular major: Management Sciences and Information Systems
21. University of Southern CaliforniaOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 17, 2025 -- Students, academics and visitors walk past the Tommy Trojan statue at USC on October 17, 2025.Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Location: Los Angeles
Applicants: 82,027
Acceptance rate: 9.8%
Student population: 46,000 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $75,384
Most popular major: Business
20. New York UniversityNEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 30: People walk by New York University (NYU) as tensions between supporters of Palestine and Israel increase on college campuses across the nation on October 30, 2023 in New York City.Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Location: New York City
Applicants: 110,807
Acceptance rate: 9.2%
Student population: 56,800 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $68,576
Most popular major: Visual and Performing Arts
19. University of California, Los Angelesos Angeles, CA - April 08: Students walk through campus at University of California, Los Angeles on Wednesday, April 8, 2026 in Los Angeles, CARonaldo Bolaños/Getty Images
Location: Los Angeles
Applicants: 146,272
Acceptance rate: 9.0%
Student population: 49,013 students
2026-2027 Academic Year In-State Tuition: $16,430
Most popular major: Business Economics
18. Cornell Universityprofessor lectures students at the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, US, on Tuesday, April 11, 2023. US college costs just keep climbing and the increase is pushing the annual price for the upcoming academic year at Ivy League schools toward yet another hold-on-to-your-mortarboard mark.Bloomberg/Getty Images
Location: Ithaca, New York
Applicants: 62,993
Acceptance rate: 8.8%
Student population: 26,561 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $49,816
Most popular major: Computer Science
17. Rice UniversityNITED STATES - AUGUST 21: New students and their parents walk outside Lovett Hall during an orientation tour on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Friday, Aug. 21, 2009.Craig Hartley/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Location: Houston
Applicants: 32,473
Acceptance rate: 8.0%
Student population: 9,200 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $71,140
Most popular major: Computer Science
16. Northwestern UniversityEVANSTON, IL - OCTOBER 5: Rohit Katakam, center, a Northwestern student, cheers during a football game against Indiana University at Martin Stadium on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. on Saturday, October 5, 2024.Vincent Alban for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Location: Evanston, Illinois
Applicants: 49,474
Acceptance rate: 7.7%
Student population: 23,400 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $71,802
Most popular degree: Economics
15. Johns Hopkins UniversityTwo students walk on a brick path in front of Gilman Hall on the Keyser Quadrangle of the Homewood campus of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, 2014.JHU Sheridan Libraries/Gado/Getty Images
Location: Baltimore
Applicants: 45,895
Acceptance rate: 6.4%
Student population: 30,210 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $68,670
Most popular major: Cellular and Molecular Biology
14. Vanderbilt Universityashville, Tenn., - Oct., 24, 2023: Students make their way around campus at Vanderbilt University. (Photo by William DeShazer for The Washington Post via Getty Images)William DeShazer for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Location: Nashville
Applicants: 45,409
Acceptance rate: 5.9%
Student population: 13,575 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $69,822
Most popular degree: Human and Organizational Development
13. Duke UniversityPeople walk by Duke Chapel on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, U.S., on Friday, March 26, 2010.Bloomberg/Getty Images
Location: Durham, North Carolina
Applicants: 51,795
Acceptance rate: 5.7%
Student population: 17,325 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $73,740
Most popular degree: Computer Science
10. Dartmouth College (tie)Baker-Berry Library on the campus of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, U.S., on Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021. Dartmouth Colleges endowment returned 47% in the fiscal year that ended in June, the latest university to post some of the strongest investment gains in decades.Bloomberg/Getty Images
Location: Hanover, New Hampshire
Applicants: 31,656
Acceptance rate: 5.4%
Student population: 6,900 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $71,697
Most popular major: Economics
10. University of Pennsylvania (tie)HILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES - APRIL 18: A view from the University of Pennsylvania as the Trump administration suspended $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania over controversy surrounding swimmer Lia Thomas, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, on April 18, 2025.Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images
Location: Philadelphia
Applicants: 65,226
Acceptance rate: 5.4%
Student population: 29,384 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $65,670
Most popular major: Business, Management and Related Support Services
10. Brown University (tie)ROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND - DECEMBER 14: Students walk through the campus at Brown University following a mass shooting yesterday that left at least two people dead and nine others injured on December 14, 2025 in Providence, Rhode Island. A suspect in the shooting was detained overnight at a hotel in a nearby communitySpencer Platt/Getty Images
Location: Providence, Rhode Island
Applicants: 48,904
Acceptance rate: 5.4%
Student population: 11,164 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $74,568
Most popular major: Computer Science
9. Northeastern UniversityBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - SEPTEMBER 14: Students walk Northeastern University campus on September 14, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. On Tuesday evening, a university employee was injured when a package sent to the virtual reality lab at Holmes Hall exploded when he opened it. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Location: Boston
Applicants: 98,425
Acceptance rate: 5.2%
Student population: 47,367 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $70,000
Most popular major: Business, Management, and Engineering
8. Princeton Universityeople walk on the Princeton University campus in Princeton, New Jersey, U.S., on Friday, Aug. 30, 2013. Residents in Princeton, New Jersey, have sued the municipality and the university, saying the school should lose its tax-exempt status because it shares royalties from patents with faculty.Bloomberg/Getty Images
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Applicants: 40,468
Acceptance rate: 4.6%
Student population: 9,106 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $68,140
Most popular degree: Economics
6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (tie)he Maclaurin Buildings on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. The presidents of Harvard University and MIT have been under scrutiny amid furor over their remarks to Congress about antisemitism on campus.MIT
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Applicants: 28,232
Acceptance rate: 4.5%
Student population: 11,816 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $92,760
Most popular major: Computer Science and Engineering
6. University of Chicago (tie)Hyde Park campus, University of Chicago.: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Location: Chicago
Applicants: 43,612
Acceptance rate: 4.5%
Student population: 19,140 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $75,960
Most popular major: Economics
5. Columbia UniversityNEW YORK, UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 02: Students walk past the main entrance of Columbia University on the first day of the fall semester in New York City, United States on September 2, 2025.Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images
Location: New York City
Applicants: 60,115
Acceptance rate: 4.0%
Student population: 35,173 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $72,800
Most popular major: Computer Science
4. Yale Universityhe Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut, US, on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Campuses across the US have been grappling with pro-Palestinian protests and counter demonstrations since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.Bloomberg/Getty Images
Location: New Haven, Connecticut
Applicants: 57,517
Acceptance rate: 3.9%
Student population: 15,657 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $94,100
Most popular degree: Economics
2. Harvard University (tie)CAMBRIDGE, MA - MAY 24: A glimpse into the Harvard University campus on May 24, 2025 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Thousands of foreign students at Harvard University were stuck in administrative limbo and looking for alternatives on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration revoked Harvard's ability tZhu Ziyu/VCG via Getty Images
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Applicants: 54,008
Acceptance rate: 3.6%
Student population: 24,317 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $62,226
Most popular major: Economics
2. Stanford University (tie)A Stanford professor says AI is driving students to pause degrees and chase startups like a modern gold rush.David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Location: Stanford, California
Applicants: 57,326
Acceptance rate: 3.6%
Student population: 17,314 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $67,731
Most popular major: Computer Science
1. California Institute of TechnologyThe California Institute of Technology is the most difficult US university to get into.The Image Party/Shutterstock
Location: Pasadena, California
Applicants: 13,856
Acceptance rate: 2.6%
Student population: 2,368 students
2026-2027 Academic Year Tuition: $68,574
Most popular degree: Computer Science
Read the original article on Business Insider