College Selectivity
MOST SELECTIVE colleges accept fewer than 15% of all applicants AND possess an average composite ACT (25%tile) score of at least 30 or an average combined SAT (25%tile) score of at least 1370. They include:
| Colleges A | Colleges B | Colleges C | Colleges D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amherst College | Barnard College | Bowdoin College | Brown University |
| California Institute of Technology | Carnegie Mellon University | Claremont McKenna College | Colby College |
| Columbia University | Cornell University | Dartmouth College | Duke University |
| Emory University | Georgetown University | Grinnell College | Hamilton College |
| Harvard University | Harvey Mudd College | Johns Hopkins University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Middlebury College | New York University | Northwestern University | Pomona College |
| Princeton University | Rice University | Stanford University | Swarthmore College |
| Tufts University | Tulane University | University of Chicago | University of Pennsylvania |
| University of Southern California | Vanderbilt University | Washington University in St. Louis | Williams College |
| Yale University |
EXTREMELY SELECTIVE colleges accept fewer than 35% of all applicants AND possess an average composite ACT (25%tile) score of at least 29 OR an average combined SAT (25%tile) score of at least 1340. They include:
| Row A | Row B | Row C | Row D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston College | Boston University | Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo | Carleton College |
| Case Western Reserve University | Colgate University | Colorado College | Cooper Union |
| Davidson College | Franklin W Olin College of Engineering | Georgia Institute of Technology | Haverford College |
| Hillsdale College | Macalester College | Northeastern University | Oberlin College |
| Pitzer College | Scripps College | Skidmore College | Trinity University |
| United States Air Force Academy | University of California, Berkeley | University of California, Irvine | University of California, Los Angeles |
| University of California, San Diego | University of California, Santa Barbara | University of Florida | University of Miami |
| University of Michigan | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | University of Notre Dame | University of Richmond |
| University of Virginia | Vassar College | Villanova University | Wake Forest University |
| Washington and Lee University | Wellesley College | Wesleyan University |
VERY SELECTIVE colleges accept fewer than 50% of all applicants AND possess an average composite ACT (25%tile) score of at least 27 or an average combined SAT (25%tile) score of at least 1280. They include:
| Row A | Row B | Row C | Row D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babson College | Bates College | Binghamton University | Brandeis University |
| Bryn Mawr College | Bucknell University | College of the Holy Cross | College of William and Mary |
| Connecticut College | Denison University | Dickinson College | Emerson College |
| Florida State University | Franklin and Marshall College | George Washington University | Kenyon College |
| Lafayette College | Lehigh University | Loyola Marymount University | North Carolina State University |
| Occidental College | Reed College | Rhode Island School of Design | Smith College |
| St. Olaf College | Stony Brook University | University of Texas at Austin | Trinity College |
| Union College | United States Military Academy | United States Naval Academy | University of California, Davis |
| University of Georgia | University of Maryland | University of Rochester | University of Washington |
MODERATELY SELECTIVE colleges accept fewer than 60% of all applicants AND possess an average composite ACT (25%tile) score of at least 25 or an average combined SAT (25%tile) score of at least 1210. They include:
| Row A | Row B | Row C | Row D |
|---|
Colleges Worth Your Money
2025 Edition
A Guide to What America's Top Schools Can Do for You
Buy on Amazon Now
