The University of Virginia is comprised of 12 schools in Charlottesville, Virginia, and one additional college in Southwest Virginia. As a whole, the university is widely considered one of the best in the country, and has been routinely ranked as one of the top five public universities in the US for decades. Nearly 17,000 undergraduate students call the 13 colleges home, and UVA is especially respected for students interested in pursuing law, medicine, politics, policy, and economics. As a public state university, the majority of students at UVA are from Virginia, with 32% of students from out of state. This drastically impacts the acceptance rate. While the overall acceptance rate is 18.6%, the rate of acceptance for students from out of state is much lower and it is extremely competitive only amplifying the reputation of the university at a national level.

The College of William and Mary is a medium-sized, public research university in historic Williamsburg, Virginia. It was founded in 1693… by the King and Queen of England. Yes, it’s older than America and is the second-oldest college in the US. W&M has around a 33% acceptance rate. That is a little bit of an oversimplification. If you are in-state, it has a 42% acceptance rate; if you are an out-of-state student, it is more like 28%.

Like many schools in the elite liberal arts tier, Davidson College is a small, academically rigorous private institution. Located in the town of (you guessed it!) Davidson, its campus is only about 20 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. Classes are focused, with an average size of 17 students and a 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio. With just under 2,000 total undergraduates, Davidson has gotten increasingly competitive to get into — the Class of 2027 had an acceptance rate of 14.5%.

Villanova, sometimes shortened to Nova, is a private Catholic university outside Philidelphia. The school is famous for sports, especially basketball, striking architecture, and six undergraduate schools. While they are proud of their Augustinian Catholic status, you do not need to be Catholic or religious to go to Nova. Last year, they had about a 20% acceptance rate. Notably, they also published a statistic that many schools don’t. 50% of their incoming class was accepted without test scores. Yes, when they say test-optional, they mean it.

If you’re looking for a free-spirited, nature-loving liberal arts school where you can march to the beat of your own drum, Bates College might be the place for you. Nestled on the banks of the Androscoggin River in Lewiston, Maine, Bates is a stone’s throw from the ocean and the mountains while offering the community of the state’s second-largest city. It boasts passion, intellectual curiosity, and individualism as a few of its guiding values, proclaiming that “aligning who you are with what you do is the heart of the Bates experience.” As a truly intimate Northeastern school, Bates is competitive to get into: last year’s admission rate was 13% for an incoming class of only 503 students.

Swarthmore is a private liberal arts college outside of Philadelphia. While it has under 2,000 undergrads, it is part of two consortiums that can make it feel larger: the Tri-College and the Quaker Consortium. These consortiums allow Swarthmore students to take classes at Bryn Mawr College, Haverford, and the University of Pennsylvania. While the school is in the Quaker Consortium and was originally a Quaker school, it is no longer religious. Last year, their acceptance rate was around 6.8%.

Wake Forest is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. If you are looking for a mid-sized liberal arts-forward education in the south, Wake Forest is probably already on your list. We have written about Wake Forest in the past, but they have recently become more competitive. In 2021, they had about a 30% acceptance rate. Last year, they had a 20% acceptance rate.

William Marsh Rice University, usually just called Rice, is a private research university in Houston’s Historic Museum District. Rice is most famous for its science and math programs but offers over 140 degrees. With only about 8,500 undergrads, some Texans would call Rice a “small school,” well, compared to the nearby University of Houston and Texas A&M.

Johns Hopkins University is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It’s actually the first research university in America. As you might guess, research is a pretty big deal there. They are especially known for their Biomedical engineering and public health majors. The school is also popular with Pre-meds. In the past, their acceptance rate has been around 8%; however, they did not release their acceptance rate for the class of 2026.

Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts is an all-women’s liberal arts college that is deeply beloved, academically rigorous, and highly-respected. Smith is grounded in a few things: long-held (and often quirky) traditions, a commitment to the liberal arts, and an occasionally contradictory prioritization of independent and personalized educational journeys. Smith is built on intellectual freedom and exploration, and the liberal arts curriculum is nearly completely open. All students have access to every subject, and there is only one required course outside of your major: a writing intensive. They emphasize the practical application of what you learn, and students have access to research opportunities, internships, and even employment. The acceptance rate is 19%.

Colby is more than a delicious cheese. It’s also a premiere liberal arts school located in Waterville, Maine, where students have been “daring northward” since its founding in 1813. Known for its access to the great outdoors, its prestigious teaching museum, and its innovative 4-1-4 program which sandwiches an intensive academic exploration called “Jan Plan” between the fall and spring semesters, Colby is a small college of the highest caliber…

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a large public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It’s a local school with a global perspective and impact. In 2022, new students arrived on campus from 86 countries, and yet 40% of the 4,440-strong incoming class hailed from rural counties. UNC also has a massive national impact, and is consistently ranked as one of the best public universities in the country while also having an iconic athletic tradition. Nearly half of all students ranked among the top 10 students in their graduating high school class. The overall acceptance rate is 16.8%, and the acceptance rate for North Carolina residents is 43.1%.

Bucknell pushes boundaries. Bucknell University combines a liberal arts methodology with professional programs, something that almost no other college of a similar size is doing, and definitely not in as hands-on a way. Home to 3,700 undergraduate students and rooted in Lewisburg, PA (a town they describe as: “…you won’t get stuck in traffic, but you won’t run out of things to do, either.”), Bucknell has three undergraduate colleges, the College of Management, the College of Engineering, and the College of Arts & Sciences, and 65 majors. Students have access to research opportunities from day one, for example Bucknell is the only undergraduate college with a Primate Center where you can study animal behavior, and the acceptance rate is 32.6%.