There are nearly 4,000 universities in the United States, but there are actually only dozens of universities that everyone focuses on during the application season every year. It is precisely because of the accumulation of excellent applicants that it has become more and more difficult to apply to prestigious American universities in recent years, especially the TOP30! Which college is the hardest to apply to? Niche has released the "2024 Hardest Colleges in the United States to Apply to in the United States" ranking, and it gives the answer! Let's take a look at what are the coldest universities in the United States?
1. Introduction to the Niche ranking
Niche is known as the "American Dianping". Every year, Niche collects the acceptance rates of comprehensive universities, liberal arts colleges, and art colleges, SAT/ACT scores, and other indicators to select the ranking of the difficulty of applying to American universities.
Students and parents who are preparing to apply to study in the United States can clearly see the difficulty of applying to various schools in the United States.
2. Ranking indicators
In addition to the actual acceptance rate (80%), the ranking is based on the SAT/ACT admission reference value given by the U.S. Department of Education and the self-evaluation given by students.
This year's rankings have lowered the weight of ACT/SAT scores, as many universities still have standardized and optional admissions policies that place more emphasis on the holistic development of students.
3. Ranking highlights
First of all, we need to make it clear that the level of the acceptance rate has little to do with the quality of teaching at the university itself. Universities with lower acceptance rates are not necessarily higher than other universities in terms of rankings or quality of teaching. This list just shows how competitive the top universities are.
For example, Minerva University, which was rated as the top 1 most difficult university in the United States, surpassed many top universities with an acceptance rate of 1%, but failed to surpass the Ivy League schools in the authoritative ranking of the world's comprehensive universities.
Overall, the universities on the list to the top 25 have single-digit acceptance rates. Cornell University has the highest acceptance rate among Ivy League schools at 9%, while the rest are between 4%-6%. Although 9% is not much higher, students who apply to Ivy League schools should know who is the friendliest among them.
The lowest acceptance rate for liberal arts colleges is Pomona College at 7%, which is about the same level as some Ivy League schools. Although the competition of liberal arts colleges is smaller than that of comprehensive universities, in recent years, many students and parents prefer a "small but fine" teaching model, and the difficulty of applying has also increased.
3. Introduction to the top 6 colleges and universities with admission difficulty
Acceptance Rate: 4%
SAT Score Reference Range: 1530-1580
ACT score reference range: 35-36
Most popular majors: Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, Electrical Engineering
Caltech is known as the "Gathering Place of Talent" and is home to the world's leading science and engineering schools that have produced several Nobel laureates.
According to Niche data, the school's physics school ranks first in the United States; The School of Computer Science, the School of Chemistry, and the School of Engineering are the third in the United States; 10th in the United States in the School of Mathematics; The Faculty of Biology is the fifteenth in the United States.
Caltech has long been known as one of the coldest universities, and only two Chinese students will receive early application offers from Caltech in 2024.
Admission Preference:
The number of male applicants far exceeds that of female students, and the proportion of new students enrolled is also "yang and yin", in order to maintain gender balance on campus, the admission rate of female students is higher under the same conditions.
Acceptance Rate: 4%
SAT Score Reference Range: 1470-1570
ACT score reference range: 34-35
Accept ED/EA Early Application: Yes
Most popular majors: Computer Science, Biology, Engineering, Economics, Cognitive Science
As one of the top private universities in the United States, Stanford University is in the top 10 in many authoritative world rankings and ranked 5th in the world in the 2024QS rankings.
Stanford University has popular majors such as Computer Science, Biology, and Engineering, which are the most popular majors for science and engineering students, but at the same time, the acceptance rate is prohibitive. Its acceptance rate remains at 4%.
Admission Preference:
The admission is the most diverse, and compared with other schools, it is more willing to give opportunities to applicants from non-first-tier cities.
Acceptance Rate: 4%
SAT Score Reference Range: 1490-1580
Accept ED/EA Early Application: Yes
Most popular majors: Philosophy, Economics, Computer Science, Engineering, Law
As one of the world's top institutions of higher learning, Harvard University has many advantageous majors, distributed in many fields such as arts, science, business, medicine, and law. As the "face" of higher education in the United States, Harvard's admission standards are very high, and grades alone are far from enough, and it is necessary to have a well-rounded background experience.
Acceptance Rate: 4%
SAT Score Reference Range: 1520-1570
Accept ED/EA Early Application: Yes
Most popular majors: Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Architecture
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is known for its excellence and innovation in science and technology, especially in engineering and computer science. MIT is located along the Charles River, across the river from Harvard University, and the two universities have a close cooperative relationship and academic exchanges.
Admission Preference:
MIT is one of the few universities in the United States that has adopted a legacy preference policy, which means that there are no alumni children who are given priority admission, and only students are judged by their grades and experience.
Acceptance Rate: 4%
SAT Score Reference Range: 1500-1560
Accept ED/EA Early Application: Yes
Most popular majors: Business, Law, Politics, Journalism, Engineering
Columbia University, located in Uptown Manhattan, New York City, is a top private research university founded in 1754 and is the oldest institution of higher education in New York State. Columbia University is a member of the Ivy League.
Admission Preference:
In recent years, most of them have been recorded in prestigious schools in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and it will be a plus to show a clear future plan in the application materials.
After reading this ranking, do some students think that it is too difficult to apply to prestigious schools in the United States? In fact, an objective understanding is very helpful for our application, we should actively check and fill in the gaps, optimize grades and background, and choose a school with a higher degree of matching, so that the probability of being admitted will be higher!
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