Highly selective universities

16 universities in the directory carry this tag, across 12 states. Each profile lists admission requirements, published costs, test policy and deadlines.

Private Founded 1764

Brown University

Providence, Rhode Island

Acceptance: 5.2%
In-state tuition: $68,000
Undergrads: 7,600

The Open Curriculum removes distribution requirements and lets students take any course pass or fail.

Private Founded 1900

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Acceptance: 11%
In-state tuition: $63,800
Undergrads: 7,800

Admission is decided college by college, and the School of Computer Science and the drama conservatory are among the most selective in the country.

Private Founded 1754

Columbia University

New York, New York

Acceptance: 3.9%
In-state tuition: $68,400
Undergrads: 8,900

A Manhattan Ivy with a mandatory Core Curriculum and a binding Early Decision round in November.

Private Founded 1838

Duke University

Durham, North Carolina

Acceptance: 6%
In-state tuition: $66,000
Undergrads: 6,700

A research university in the Research Triangle with a large share of its class admitted through binding Early Decision.

Private Founded 1636

Harvard University

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Acceptance: 3.6%
In-state tuition: $59,320
Undergrads: 7,200

The oldest degree-granting institution in the United States, with need-based financial aid that replaces loans with grants for most admitted families.

Private Founded 1876

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, Maryland

Acceptance: 7%
In-state tuition: $63,000
Undergrads: 6,100

The first research university in the United States, with the country's largest medical research expenditure and no legacy preference in admissions.

Private Founded 1861

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Acceptance: 4.5%
In-state tuition: $60,156
Undergrads: 4,600

A science and engineering powerhouse that uses its own application portal and expects demonstrated depth in mathematics and physics.

Private Founded 1851

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

Acceptance: 7%
In-state tuition: $66,000
Undergrads: 8,800

A quarter-system university on Lake Michigan with the Medill journalism school and a strong co-op and internship culture.

Private Founded 1746

Princeton University

Princeton, New Jersey

Acceptance: 4.5%
In-state tuition: $59,710
Undergrads: 5,600

An undergraduate-focused Ivy where every student writes a senior thesis and aid packages contain no loans.

Private Founded 1912

Rice University

Houston, Texas

Acceptance: 8%
In-state tuition: $60,000
Undergrads: 4,600

A small private research university with a residential college system and one of the lowest student-to-faculty ratios in Texas.

Private Founded 1885

Stanford University

Stanford, California

Acceptance: 3.9%
In-state tuition: $62,484
Undergrads: 7,800

A research university at the centre of Silicon Valley, known for entrepreneurship, interdisciplinary majors and generous no-loan financial aid.

Public Founded 1919

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Acceptance: 9%
In-state tuition: $14,000
Undergrads: 33,000

One of the most-applied-to universities in the world, with holistic review built around the UC Personal Insight Questions.

Private Founded 1890

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Acceptance: 5.4%
In-state tuition: $66,900
Undergrads: 7,500

Famous for its Core Curriculum and for supplemental essay prompts written by current students.

Private Founded 1880

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California

Acceptance: 10%
In-state tuition: $69,904
Undergrads: 21,000

A private research university with early December deadlines for arts and music programmes that require portfolios or auditions.

Private Founded 1873

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, Tennessee

Acceptance: 6%
In-state tuition: $63,000
Undergrads: 7,100

Meets full demonstrated need without loans and houses all first-year students on a dedicated commons campus.

Private Founded 1701

Yale University

New Haven, Connecticut

Acceptance: 4.6%
In-state tuition: $64,700
Undergrads: 6,600

An Ivy League university organised into residential colleges, accepting AP and IB results in place of SAT or ACT scores.

About this grouping

Tags describe a shared characteristic — funding model, academic emphasis, campus scale or cost level — and are assigned editorially from public institutional information. They are a navigation aid, not an assessment. A university appearing here is not ranked above or below any other, and institutions may carry several tags at once.

States represented: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas.