Lowest acceptance rates, fall 2023

This list ranks the colleges on AdmitFacts by the share of applicants they admitted for fall 2023, lowest first.

The rate is the number of admitted students divided by the number of applicants, both as the college reported them to the IPEDS admissions survey.

We do not adjust for early decision, waitlists or programs that admit separately, because IPEDS reports a single total for each college.

The small line next to each rate shows the trend since fall 2013, so you can see whether a college has become harder to get into or stayed level.

A low admit rate describes demand, not quality, and it says nothing about your own chances.

Click a college for its full trend, test policy, cost by family income and graduation rate.

	College	Admit rate, fall 2023	Applicants
1	Harvard MA	3.5%	56,937
2	Stanford CA	3.9%	53,733
3	Columbia University NY	4.2%	57,613
4	Yale CT	4.5%	51,803
5	Princeton NJ	4.5%	39,644
6	MIT MA	4.7%	26,904
7	University of Chicago IL	4.8%	38,631
8	Brown University RI	5.2%	51,316
9	Northeastern MA	5.6%	96,631
10	UPenn PA	5.9%	59,465
11	Dartmouth NH	6.2%	28,841
12	Vanderbilt TN	6.3%	45,313
13	Duke NC	6.8%	46,365
14	Colby ME	6.8%	17,786
15	Swarthmore PA	6.9%	14,287
16	Northwestern IL	7.2%	51,769
17	Johns Hopkins MD	7.6%	38,926
18	Rice University TX	7.9%	31,059
19	Cornell NY	8.2%	65,635
20	UCLA CA	8.7%	145,903
21	NYU NY	9.4%	113,578
22	Naval Academy MD	9.4%	14,727
23	USC CA	10.0%	80,808
24	Tufts MA	10.1%	34,003
25	Boston University MA	10.8%	80,495
26	Emory GA	11.1%	31,929
27	Carnegie Mellon PA	11.4%	33,707
28	UC Berkeley CA	11.7%	125,910
29	WashU MO	12.0%	32,240
30	Colgate NY	12.0%	21,130
31	Notre Dame IN	12.4%	28,353
32	Georgetown DC	13.1%	25,485
33	Tulane LA	14.6%	27,936
34	Boston College MA	15.7%	36,069
35	Georgia Tech GA	16.5%	52,377
36	UVA VA	16.9%	56,528
37	Denison OH	16.9%	14,580
38	Wesleyan University CT	17.1%	14,500
39	University of Michigan MI	17.9%	87,632
40	University of Miami FL	18.5%	48,286
41	UNC Chapel Hill NC	18.7%	57,902
42	FAMU FL	21.1%	22,713
43	Wake Forest NC	21.6%	17,479
44	University of Richmond VA	23.3%	15,121
45	Grambling State LA	23.7%	24,521
46	University of Florida FL	24.0%	65,375
47	UCSD CA	24.5%	130,771
48	Villanova PA	25.1%	23,127
49	FSU FL	25.4%	74,038
50	UC Irvine CA	25.6%	121,101
51	UCSB CA	27.8%	110,871
52	Case Western OH	28.7%	39,033
53	UT Austin TX	29.1%	66,109
54	Lehigh PA	29.3%	18,415
55	Cal Poly SLO CA	29.8%	63,736
56	William & Mary VA	32.7%	17,548
57	SDSU CA	34.4%	82,800
58	Howard University DC	34.9%	30,342
59	University of Rochester NY	35.9%	21,680
60	UGA GA	37.2%	43,419
61	Binghamton NY	37.7%	49,513
62	Clemson SC	38.1%	60,122
63	UC Merced CA	39.2%	67,891
64	UCF FL	39.5%	60,627
65	NC State NC	39.8%	40,049
66	LMU CA	40.3%	23,361
67	University of Tampa FL	40.9%	35,353
68	USF FL	41.0%	65,187
69	UC Davis CA	41.6%	94,637
70	Syracuse NY	41.7%	42,089
71	University of Washington WA	42.5%	62,428
72	TCU TX	42.6%	20,517
73	UW-Madison WI	43.3%	63,505
74	GWU DC	43.5%	27,094
75	UIUC IL	43.7%	67,398
76	Santa Clara University CA	43.8%	18,843
77	UMD MD	44.8%	59,377
78	Fairfield University CT	45.0%	15,463
79	University of Tennessee TN	46.0%	50,488
80	NC A&T NC	46.2%	30,717
81	University of San Diego CA	46.7%	15,953
82	CSULB CA	47.1%	79,680
83	American University DC	47.4%	17,786
84	Stony Brook NY	49.0%	50,341
85	Pitt PA	49.7%	58,416
86	Purdue IN	50.3%	73,083
87	Auburn AL	50.5%	48,178
88	Baruch College NY	50.5%	24,867
89	SUNY Cortland NY	50.7%	15,867
90	Ohio State OH	50.8%	70,028
91	University of San Francisco CA	50.8%	25,709
92	Baylor TX	51.0%	39,735
93	Brooklyn College NY	53.7%	27,112
94	UConn CT	53.9%	46,645
95	Hunter College NY	54.0%	31,614
96	Penn State PA	54.2%	85,956
97	Lehman College NY	55.4%	20,954
98	Chapman University CA	55.6%	15,914
99	Fordham NY	56.3%	43,663
100	Virginia Tech VA	57.0%	47,208

Source: IPEDS admissions, fall 2023 (admitted ÷ applicants). Showing 100 colleges on AdmitFacts; ties are ordered by search interest.