Mental Floss

The 25 Hardest Colleges to Get Into in 2023

By Jake Rossen

These schools admit the best of the best.
These schools admit the best of the best. / Paul Bradbury/OJO Images via Getty Images
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There is no one-size-fits-all approach to life, but in sweeping terms, having a college education is better than not having one. According to the Pew Research Center, roughly half of college graduates believe a two- or four-year degree helps them achieve their professional and career goals. A third of respondents said they declined to apply for a job owing to a lack of advanced education.

But not all colleges and universities leave their doors wide open for applicants. Recently, college information hub Niche broke down their list of the most difficult colleges and universities to gain admission to. The rankings are based on the chances of acceptance as well as test score requirements. Take a look at the 25 elite campuses, along with their acceptance rates.

  1. Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts) // 5 Percent
  2. Stanford University (Stanford, California) // 5 Percent
  3. Princeton University (Princeton, New Jersey) // 6 Percent
  4. California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, California) // 7 Percent
  5. Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut) // 7 Percent
  6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Massachusetts) // 7 Percent
  7. University of Chicago (Chicago, Illinois) // 7 Percent
  8. Columbia University (New York, New York) // 7 Percent
  9. Duke University (Durham, North Carolina) // 8 Percent
  10. Brown University (Providence, Rhode Island) // 8 Percent
  11. University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) // 9 Percent
  12. Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois) // 9 Percent
  13. Dartmouth College (Hanover, New Hampshire) // 9 Percent
  14. Pomona College (Claremont, California) // 9 Percent
  15. Rice University (Houston, Texas) // 11 Percent
  16. Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, Pennsylvania) // 9 Percent
  17. Bowdoin College (Brunswick, Maine) // 9 Percent
  18. Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Maryland) // 11 Percent
  19. Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee) // 12 Percent
  20. Cornell University (Ithaca, New York) // 11 Percent
  21. Amherst College (Amherst, Massachusetts) // 12 Percent
  22. Colby College (Waterville, Maine) // 10 Percent
  23. United States Naval Academy (Annapolis, Maryland) // 9 Percent
  24. United States Military Academy at West Point (West Point, New York) // 9 Percent
  25. Tulane University (New Orleans, Louisiana) // 11 Percent

[h/t CBS News]

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