ocity

Most Selective Colleges 2026

The hardest universities to get accepted into

50 universities ranked • Source: US Dept of Education
#1
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA · Private
B+
#2
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA · Private
B+
#3
Minerva University
San Francisco, CA · Private
C+
#4
Stanford University
Stanford, CA · Private
B+
#5
Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY · Private
B+
#6
Yale University
New Haven, CT · Private
B
#7
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA · Private
B+
#8
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL · Private
B+
#9
Brown University
Providence, RI · Private
B
#10
Northeastern University
Boston, MA · Private
B
#11
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA · Private
B
#12
Vanderbilt University
Nashville-Davidson, TN · Private
B+
#13
Duke University
Durham, NC · Private
B
#14
Curtis Institute of Music
Philadelphia, PA · Private
B
#15
Northwestern University
Evanston, IL · Private
B
#16
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD · Private
B+
#17
Rice University
Houston, TX · Private
B+
#18
Barnard College
New York, NY · Private
B
#19
University of California-Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA · Public
A-
#20
The Juilliard School
New York, NY · Private
B-
#21
New York University
New York, NY · Private
B
#22
Pacific Oaks College
Pasadena, CA · Private
C
#23
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA · Private
B
#24
Middlebury College
Middlebury CDP, VT · Private
B
#25
Boston University
Boston, MA · Private
B
#26
Emory University
Atlanta, GA · Private
B
#27
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA · Private
B
#28
Washington University of Science and Technology
Alexandria, VA · Private
C
#29
University of California-Berkeley
Berkeley, CA · Public
B+
#30
Washington University in St Louis
St. Louis, MO · Private
B+
#31
Bates College
Lewiston, ME · Private
B-
#32
Georgetown University
Washington, DC · Private
B
#33
Rhode Island School of Design
Providence, RI · Private
B-
#34
Tulane University of Louisiana
New Orleans, LA · Private
B-
#35
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus
Atlanta, GA · Public
B+
#36
Northeastern University Oakland
Oakland, CA · Private
C
#37
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
, NC · Public
B-
#38
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI · Public
B+
#39
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
New York, NY · Private
B
#40
Colorado College
Colorado Springs, CO · Private
B-
#41
College of the Holy Cross
Worcester, MA · Private
B-
#42
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
Tallahassee, FL · Public
C
#43
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC · Private
B-
#44
University of Richmond
Richmond, VA · Private
B-
#45
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL · Public
B+
#46
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL · Public
B-
#47
University of California-Irvine
Irvine, CA · Public
B+
#48
Reed College
Portland, OR · Private
C+
#49
University of California-Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA · Public
B+
#50
Trinity University
San Antonio, TX · Private
B-

Methodology: Rankings are generated from verified data provided by the US Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS. We use real outcome data — not surveys. Each university is scored based on the specific criteria for this ranking category. Last updated: March 2026.

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