# The 25 most selective colleges in America

The lowest admission rates among four-year colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates, from federal data.

By Dreamschool Research, October 30, 2026. Source page: https://www.dreamschool.co/news/the-25-most-selective-colleges-in-america

[Stanford University](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/stanford-university) admitted 3.6% of applicants in Fall 2024, the lowest rate of any four-year college with at least 1,000 undergraduates. In all, 9 colleges admitted fewer than 5% of applicants.

| # | College | Location | Admission rate | Applicants (Fall 2023) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Stanford University](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/stanford-university) | Stanford, CA | 3.6% | 53,733 |
| 2 | [Harvard University](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/harvard-university) | Cambridge, MA | 3.7% | 56,937 |
| 3 | [Yale University](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/yale-university) | New Haven, CT | 3.9% | 51,803 |
| 4 | [Columbia University in the City of New York](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/columbia-university-in-the-city-of-new-york) | New York, NY | 4% | 57,613 |
| 5 | [University of Chicago](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/university-of-chicago) | Chicago, IL | 4.5% | 38,631 |
| 6 | [Massachusetts Institute of Technology](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/massachusetts-institute-of-technology) | Cambridge, MA | 4.6% | 26,904 |
| 7 | [Princeton University](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/princeton-university) | Princeton, NJ | 4.6% | 39,644 |
| 8 | [Northeastern University](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/northeastern-university) | Boston, MA | 5.2% | 96,631 |
| 9 | [Brown University](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/brown-university) | Providence, RI | 5.4% | 51,316 |
| 10 | [Dartmouth College](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/dartmouth-college) | Hanover, NH | 5.4% | 28,841 |
| 11 | [University of Pennsylvania](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/university-of-pennsylvania) | Philadelphia, PA | 5.4% | 59,465 |
| 12 | [Duke University](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/duke-university) | Durham, NC | 5.7% | 46,365 |
| 13 | [Vanderbilt University](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/vanderbilt-university) | Nashville, TN | 5.9% | 45,313 |
| 14 | [Johns Hopkins University](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/johns-hopkins-university) | Baltimore, MD | 6.4% | 38,926 |
| 15 | [Bowdoin College](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/bowdoin-college) | Brunswick, ME | 7.1% | 10,966 |
| 16 | [Colby College](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/colby-college) | Waterville, ME | 7.1% | 17,786 |
| 17 | [Pomona College](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/pomona-college) | Claremont, CA | 7.1% | 12,121 |
| 18 | [Swarthmore College](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/swarthmore-college) | Swarthmore, PA | 7.5% | 14,287 |
| 19 | [Northwestern University](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/northwestern-university) | Evanston, IL | 7.7% | 51,769 |
| 20 | [Rice University](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/rice-university) | Houston, TX | 8% | 31,059 |
| 21 | [Williams College](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/williams-college) | Williamstown, MA | 8.3% | 11,465 |
| 22 | [Barnard College](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/barnard-college) | New York, NY | 8.8% | 11,803 |
| 23 | [Cornell University](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/cornell-university) | Ithaca, NY | 8.8% | 65,635 |
| 24 | [Amherst College](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/amherst-college) | Amherst, MA | 9% | 12,727 |
| 25 | [University of California-Los Angeles](https://www.dreamschool.co/colleges/university-of-california-los-angeles) | Los Angeles, CA | 9% | 145,903 |

## How we got these numbers

Figures come from the U.S. Department of Education: the [College Scorecard](https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/) (released 2026-10-15) and the [IPEDS Admissions survey](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/DataFiles.aspx). Data years:

- Admission rate: Fall 2024, reported in IPEDS DCY2024-25
- Applicants: Fall 2023, reported in IPEDS ADM2023
- Undergraduates: Fall 2024, reported in IPEDS DCY2024-25

Colleges with fewer than 500 applicants are excluded from selectivity rankings because their admission rates say little about selectivity. Full details on [our data page](https://www.dreamschool.co/methodology).