Vanderbilt University is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee’s historic midtown neighborhood. From Covid research to sports teams, there are many reasons to like Vandy. The university hosts four undergraduate schools: the College of Arts and Science, the School of Engineering, the Peabody College of Education and Human Development, and the Blair School of Music. Vanderbilt is test optional and is committed to need-blind financial aid. However, getting in has become more challenging over the years. For the class of 2027, their acceptance rate was only 4.2%  during the regular decision round. The early decision acceptance was higher at 15.7%, but these numbers have been on a slow downward trajectory.

Barnard College is an all-women’s college in New York City that is directly across the street from the main Columbia University campus. We say “main” because Barnard has a complicated relationship with Columbia. The college is part of Columbia, but it’s also sorta not. The application is separate and the schools operate independently. However, nearly all of the courses are mixed and your diploma will say “Columbia University” at the top of it with Barnard identified as your undergraduate college just as students in Columbia College or the engineering college of Columbia have. Over 12,000 students apply to Barnard annually, and the acceptance rate is 9%.  

Located in, you guessed it, Boston, BU is a large, private research university known for lots and lots of research, study abroad, internship, etc., opportunities for their students. Some fun facts: did you know the school was originally located in Vermont???? That’s not Boston! Plus, Alexander Graham Bell, a BU professor, invented the telephone in a BU lab. That’s right, you could technically call someone in the same lab the telephone was invented in. BU has gotten a lot more competitive over the last few years. Last cycle saw almost 81k applicants and a 14% acceptance rate. Compare that to 2020, with 65k applicants and a 22% acceptance rate. A plummeting acceptance rate combined with a test-optional policy means you better get ready to write some stellar essays. Let’s go.

Nestled between the Adirondacks and the Green Mountains, Middlebury College enjoys an unbelievably scenic campus in Vermont’s Champlain Valley. With a small student body (~2,800 undergraduates total), and a remote location (seriously — it’s beautiful but hard to get to), Middlebury is a classical liberal arts school that attracts ambitious, outdoorsy types to its world-renowned foreign language, creative writing, environmental science, and teaching programs, among its many other offerings. The acceptance rate for the Class of 2027 was just 13%

If you are a STEM student, you have probably considered applying to Carnegie Mellon University. CMU is a private research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While CMU might be best known for its STEM majors, the university offers a wide array of programs across several schools. CMU is test-optional this year and has been committed to need-blind financial aid. Carnegie Mellon’s supplement hasn’t changed since last year, and we have written about it before. However, their acceptance rate has been steadily falling. Last year it was around an 11% acceptance rate—it has never been more important to put your best foot forward when it comes to the CMU supplement.  

Claremont McKenna College is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. While it’s a small school, it is part of a consortium, meaning CMC students can take classes at Pomona, Scripps, Harvey Mudd, and Pitzer. CMC is primarily known for its social sciences, but they offer over 30 majors (some in conjunction with other consortium schools). Last year their acceptance rate was about 11%. We have written about their supplement in the past, but they changed the questions a bit this year. The CMC supplement has two essay questions and one “optional” video. We put optional in quotations because, with an acceptance rate of only 11%, you should be using your opportunities wisely. TL;DR: just do the video.

Pomona College, located in Claremont, California, is a small, prestigious liberal arts college known for having one of the lowest acceptance rates among liberal arts schools, at 7%. Pomona is a part of the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of liberal arts schools that share a singular campus, and they’re joined by Scripps, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, and Pitzer. They’re also one of the wealthiest schools in the US, with a $2.7 BILLION (with a B) endowment. That’s enough for $1.5 million per student. As with many other schools, they’re continuing to be test-optional for 2024, although they haven’t said whether or not they’ll continue after that.

Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a public research university based in Atlanta, Georgia. With 17,000 undergrads and 22,000 postgrads, it is an extremely popular college for STEM-minded students. Don’t be fooled by the Georgia of it all, they’re called the MIT of the South for a reason. Georgia Tech boasts a top ten engineering undergrad program, a 36% in-state acceptance rate, and a 12% out-of-state acceptance rate. It’s important to note that Georgia Tech is not test-optional, and in fact are test-mandatory. This seems to be the case with a number of elite STEM schools, so we’re not surprised.

Williams is a highly-prestigious small liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts in the Berkshire mountains. The Williams community is tight-knit, passionate, curious, and committed to the process of learning — there are also no fraternities, which makes for a distinct social environment. The academic calendar at the college highlights this, as it’s a twist on the standard. They have two four-course semesters, which is normal, but also a one-course January term where students go deep into a single class. The most popular majors include math, political science, economics, English, and biology, and 43% of the 2,000 students graduate with more than one major. The acceptance rate is 8.5%, and they receive over 15,000 applications annually.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is a prestigious public state school known equally for its academics and its culture (go Badgers!). Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school is set in a mid-sized city that isn’t completely taken over by the university but is heavily dominated by it. This isn’t surprising, given that that total student body of nearly 50,000 accounts for nearly 20% of the city’s population. The university is ranked as the 10th best public university in the United States out of over 1,600 schools, and, despite its size, it holds community values at its core. Public service is considered central to the identity of the university, and the school is a top source for Peace Corps volunteers. While the published acceptance rate is 60%, we consider that number very misleading as the acceptance rate for in-state applicants is much higher than for those applying from outside of Wisconsin. A few years ago, the university received a whopping 42,627 applicants for 6,800 spots.

Pitzer College is a tiny (1,000 students total) private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. They’re part of the Claremont Colleges, which is a consortium of five undergrad (and two graduate) schools – Pomona, Scripps, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, and Pitzer – that share a gorgeous campus. This innovative approach allows students to attend classes at any school, participate in cross-college sports teams and clubs, and get a liberal arts education on an Oxford-inspired campus. Each school has its own personality and focus, and Pitzer is famous for social sciences, behavioral sciences, international studies, and media studies, as well as a hearty social justice culture. Last cycle, Pitzer had a 17.3% acceptance rate.

Washington University in St. Louis is a leading research university in St. Louis, Missouri. Affectionately referred to as WashU, this medium-sized school has nearly 8000 undergraduate students and 17,000 students overall. Known for their programs in the humanities with a focus on research, engineering, education, business, and one of the few undergraduate architecture degrees in the United States, WashU offers a 7:1 student-to-faculty ratio, and access to a faculty that includes four Pulitzer Prize winners, three Poet Laureates of the United States, and 10 National Medal of Science recipients. The campus is truly global, with students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries. And, while the acceptance rate is a mere 12% overall, applying Early Decision offers much higher chances. The regular decision acceptance rate is 9%, but the Early Decision acceptance rate is 26%.

Tufts is a private research university in the suburbs of Boston, and it wants to be your quirky aunt. By that we mean it has academics on par with top-tier schools and flaunts an intentionally eccentric school spirit. Case in point: Tuftonians also go by the nickname “Jumbos,” a reference to the school’s mascot (P. T. Barnum’s famous circus elephant). With a class size typical of a New England liberal arts school, Tufts has gotten increasingly selective. The incoming class of 2026 includes 1,695 enrolled students and has an admission rate of 9.7%.