Bates is a small liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine with 1,800 students and a multitude of opportunities. The college has become immensely popular. In 2010, the acceptance rate was over 30%. Today, the acceptance rate is about 13%. The college isn’t wildly different from what it was just 15 years ago, but the increase in popularity (and subsequent decrease in the acceptance rate) can be linked to a dramatic rise in the number of applicants to well-respected colleges of all kinds across the country. As the acceptance rates at Williams and Dartmouth decrease, Bates, which was historically a target for a student aiming for Dartmouth, is impacted as well. The bottom line is that the college has always been awesome, but now it’s a tougher one to get into.

Smith is a women’s college in Northampton, Massachusetts known for an open curriculum with few required courses outside of your major, allowing students to focus on their deepest passions with minimal distraction. For many students, this is a dream situation — and Smith is their perfect fit! There are over 1,000 courses across more than 80 areas of study, and the acceptance rate is a little below 21%.

Colgate is a leading university known for offering an exceptional educational experience in a stunning setting in Hamilton, NY. The school prizes offering an intimate learning environment that emphasizes conversation through small class sizes. There are 56 majors, 3,200 students, and the acceptance rate is 12%. 

Emory is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia—well, part of it is in Atlanta Georgia. Emory has two academic pathways for freshmen: Emory College of Arts and Sciences and Oxford College. The College of Arts and Sciences is the main campus with 5,400 students in the heart of the ATL. Oxford is about 40 miles outside Atlanta and only has about 1,000 students. Junior year, the schools combine at the Atlanta campus. Emory is currently test-optional, and last year, its acceptance rate was 14.5%. Although Emory’s supplement is relatively short, we wanted to share our tips for it. Let’s break it down.

Harvey Mudd is an engineering, science, and mathematics-focused liberal arts college in Claremont, California. A member of The Claremont Colleges inter-collegiate system, Harvey Mudd offers the under 1,000 undergraduates enrolled a STEM-focused education with the resources and opportunities of a larger liberal arts network. The acceptance rate is about 13%.

Middlebury College, located in Middlebury, VT, is a small, private liberal arts college known for their arts and humanities programs, their joint engineering programs, and their language schools. Plus, Jason Mantzoukas went there! Last year, Middlebury had a 10% acceptance rate, and it keeps trending downwards. With their test-optional policy (only 42% of applicants last year submitted scores) and no supplement, you might think it only takes a click to convincingly apply to Middlebury. Wrong!

Washington and Lee (W&L) is a tiny liberal arts college located in Lexington, Virginia. It’s one of the oldest colleges in the US. In fact, it’s even older than the country itself, being founded in 1749. Makes sense that due to W&L’s history and location, it’s churned out countless senators, governors, politicians, and even a Supreme Court justice.

Located in, you guessed it, St. Louis, MO, Washington University in St. Louis (WashU for short) is a medium-sized private research university known for their humanities programs and their rare undergraduate architecture program. It’s also a super friendly and nice school – something that all of our clients who are drawn to WashU have pointed out as a big selling point. WashU had a 12% acceptance rate for the Class of 2028, but they break that down for us even further (rare!) (perhaps an example of their kindness—is data transparency a sign of kindness?).

The University of Virginia, often just called UVA, is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It’s a historic school; literally, part of its campus is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With around 20k students, it’s a great choice for students looking for a midsized public education, especially for those looking for unique programs. The university is made up of 12 schools and offers over 50 majors in everything from Aerospace Engineering to Youth & Social Innovation (along with all the majors you would expect!) Plus, they are test-optional through 2025.

Barnard is a women’s college under the umbrella of Columbia University. It is a liberal arts college with a dual emphasis on a well-rounded education and access to deep research experiences. They receive nearly 12,000 applications, and the acceptance rate for the Class of 2028 was only 7%.

Located in New Orleans, Louisiana (aka “The Big Easy” for those city-nickname-enthusiasts out there), Tulane University is a private research university known for their work-hard play-hard vibes and we consider them to be one of the friendliest colleges in the US. Tulane has also become increasingly competitive over the last few years, with last year’s acceptance rate at around 12%. We know parents reading this will be shocked, but Tulane’s just really popular with the kids these days! Tulane is also notorious for accepting the vast majority of their students from the Early Decision round, and they take demonstrated interest very seriously. That means if you’re serious about Tulane, you should absolutely take a tour (can be virtual!) and apply early to give yourself the best shot at success.

The College of William and Mary is a medium-sized, public research university in historic Williamsburg, Virginia. Yes, public. Why isn’t it called the University of Virginia at Williamsburg or something like that? Well, it is older than the state of Virginia and (the USA, for that matter). The titular William and Mary are actually the King and Queen of England, who were still a big deal continent-side when the school was founded in 1693. William & Mary recently announced that they are going to be test-optional indefinitely. They also have around a 33% acceptance rate. However, that isn’t really the whole picture. For in-state students, the acceptance rate is 39%, and it is more like 28% for out-of-state students.

Georgia Institute of Technology, usually just called Georgia Tech, is a public research university in Atlanta. Georgia Tech is an extremely popular school for STEM students. You might not think a public school in the South rivals MIT, but you would be wrong! With 17,000 undergrads and 22,000 postgrads, it is a surprisingly large school to be in a major urban center (and it's truly in the center; we are talking about a 20-minute walk from Downtown ATL).

Swarthmore is a small liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, right outside of Philadelphia. The college was founded by Quakers in 1864, and is a private non-religious school with an emphasis on melding the arts and humanities with STEM pursuits like engineering. There are more than 40 courses of study open to the 1,730 undergraduate students, and two-thirds of students take part in undergraduate research or independent creative projects. It also doesn’t hurt that the campus is simply stunning in all four seasons. Swarthmore has become immensely popular in recent years, transitioning from a selective college to an exceptionally difficult school to get into. The acceptance rate is only 7.5%.

Claremont McKenna College is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Sometimes called CMC, the college is part of the Claremont Colleges consortium, which means students can take classes, use resources and share spaces with Pomona College, Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College, and Pitzer College. It’s a pretty great deal for students who want to go to a high-ranking liberal arts school but also want to access a larger network of students and opportunities.

UNC Chapel Hill is a public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The university is home to over 20,000 undergraduate students, and has a strong emphasis on global education and pre-professional opportunities. There are 82 bachelor’s programs, and one of the most enthusiastic athletics fanbases in the country. Getting into UNC Chapel Hill is difficult, especially if you are from outside of the state. They received over 63,000 applications for the class of 2028, and only accept about 17% of applicants averaging out across in-state and out-of-state prospective students. This number is kept low partially due to a 1986 policy that mandates that UNC system schools may not have more than 18% out-of-state students in any first-year class. Students making up that 18% come from 100 countries!