The most selective universities in the United States

American universities that admit fewer than one in five applicants. Selectivity is a measure of demand, not of what you would get out of going - several schools further down any such list teach undergraduates better than several at the top.

146 universities listed. 146 of them publish acceptance rate; where a school does not publish one we say so rather than estimating it.

UniversityLocationAcceptance rate
Alliant International University San Diego, California 0%
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai New York City, New York 1%
Weill Medical College of Cornell University New York City, New York, NY 2%
Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine Kalamazoo, Michigan, MI 2%
Meharry Medical College Nashville, Tennessee 2%
Morehouse School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia 2%
California Institute of Technology 3%
California University of Science and Medicine Colton, California 3%
Minerva University San Francisco, California 3%
Stanford University 4%
Yale University New Haven, Connecticut 4%
Mayo Clinic Rochester, Minnesota 4%
Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, NY 4%
Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Texas 4%
Columbia University in the City of New York New York City, New York, NY 4%
Einsteinmed 4%
Kansas Health Science University Wichita, Kansas, KS 4%
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio San Antonio, Texas, TX 4%
Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts 4%
University of Chicago 4%
University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, Texas 5%
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 5%
Princeton University 5%
Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine Las Cruces, New Mexico 5%
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cold Spring Harbor, New York 5%
Curtis Institute of Music Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, PA 5%
Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin 5%
Northeast Ohio Medical University Rootstown, Ohio, OH 5%
Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences Yakima, Washington 5%
Rocky Vista University Parker, Colorado (also Ivins, Utah and Billings, Montana), CO 5%
Brown University 5%
Dartmouth College 5%
University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 5%
Duke University 6%
Vanderbilt University 6%
Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts 6%
Northeastern University Professional Programs Boston, MA 6%
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School Worcester, Massachusetts, MA 6%
Johns Hopkins University 6%
Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine Dothan, Alabama, AL 7%
CUNY Macauly Honors College New York City, New York, NY 7%
Eastern Virginia Medical School Norfolk, Virginia 7%
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine Erie, Pennsylvania (main campus); also Bradenton, Florida 7%
University of Maine at Augusta Augusta, Maine 7%
Colby College 7%
Pomona College California 7%
Bowdoin College 7%
Swarthmore College 7%
Northwestern University 8%
Barnard College New York City, New York 8%
Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Blacksburg, Virginia, VA 8%
Rice University 8%
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Bethesda, Maryland 8%
Upstate Medical University Syracuse, NY 8%
Williams College 8%
University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha, Nebraska 9%
Cornell University 9%
Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine Nutley, New Jersey, NJ 9%
University of California, Los Angeles 9%
A T Still University of Health Sciences Kirksville, Missouri (main campus); also Mesa, Arizona, MO 9%
New York Medical College 9%
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine 9%
Polytechnic University of New York 9%
The Juilliard School New York City, New York, NY 9%
United States Naval Academy Annapolis, Maryland 9%
Washington University of Science and Technology Alexandria, Virginia, VA 9%
Amherst College 9%
New York University 9%
Claremont McKenna College 10%
University of Southern California 10%
Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine Meridian, ID 10%
Kansas City University Kansas City, Missouri 10%
Medical College of Georgia Augusta, Georgia 10%
Oregon Health & Science University Portland, Oregon, OR 10%
Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago Chicago, Illinois, IL 10%
University of Kansas School of Medicine Kansas City, Kansas 10%
West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine Lewisburg, West Virginia, WV 10%
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole, Massachusetts 10%
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas, Texas 11%
Emory University 11%
Middlebury College 11%
University of California, Berkeley 11%
Ambassador University Lattimore, North Carolina 11%
Claremont Colleges Claremont, California 11%
College of the Ozarks Point Lookout, Missouri, MO 11%
Medical University of South Carolina Charleston, South Carolina 11%
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art New York City, New York 11%
Boston University 11%
University of Notre Dame 11%
Tufts University 11%
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 12%
Marshall B Ketchum University Fullerton, California, CA 12%
Rockefeller University New York City, New York 12%
The Rockefeller University New York City, New York, NY 12%
United States Military Academy West Point, New York 12%
Washington University in St Louis St. Louis, Missouri, MO 12%
Washington University, Saint Louis 12%
Haverford College Haverford, PA 12%
Haverford College in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 13%
Georgetown University 13%
Bates College 13%
California Southern University Costa Mesa, California 13%
Colgate University Hamilton, New York 13%
Harvey Mudd College 13%
Institute for Advanced Study Princeton, New Jersey 13%
Rush University Chicago, Illinois, IL 13%
The Scripps Research Institute La Jolla, California (also Jupiter, Florida) 13%
University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences San Juan, PR 13%
Davidson College 13%
Hamilton College 14%
Washington & Lee University Lexington, Virginia 14%
Tulane University 14%
Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA 14%
United States Air Force Academy USAF Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado 14%
Washington and Lee University Lexington, Virginia, VA 14%
Webb Institute Glen Cove, NY 14%
Wellesley College 14%
Georgia Institute of Technology 14%
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA 14%
Grinnell College 15%
Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art New York City, New York 15%
Midwestern University-Downers Grove Downers Grove, IL 15%
New College of California San Francisco, California 15%
St. Andrew's University Laurinburg, North Carolina 15%
University of California, San Francisco San Francisco, California 15%
Western University of Health Sciences Pomona, California 15%
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor 16%
Des Moines University West Des Moines, Iowa 16%
Des Moines University-Osteopathic Medical Center West Des Moines, Iowa, IA 16%
Ponce Health Sciences University Ponce, Puerto Rico, PR 16%
Ponce Health Sciences University-Centro Universitario de San Juan San Juan, PR 16%
University of Virginia, Charlottesville 16%
Wesleyan University Middletown, Connecticut 16%
Boston College 16%
University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA 17%
American Film Institute Conservatory Los Angeles, California, CA 17%
Babson College Wellesley, Massachusetts 17%
Northeastern University Oakland Oakland, California 17%
University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina 17%
College of the Holy Cross Worcester, Massachusetts 18%
Colorado College Colorado Springs, Colorado 18%
University of North Texas Health Science Center Fort Worth, Texas 18%
Vassar College 19%
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Providence, Rhode Island 19%
University of Miami Coral Gables, Florida 19%
Berea College Berea, Kentucky 19%

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