What is the most complex university to get into?

Introduction

These colleges have the lowest acceptance rates if you’re looking for a challenge. So if you want to get into Harvard, MIT or Princeton, be prepared to have your heart broken—or maybe not.

The top two most challenging universities.

The top two most challenging universities to enter are Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with Stanford University and Princeton University in third place.

Harvard, MIT, and Princeton remained unchanged from last year’s listing of challenging colleges.

Harvard has been listed as one of the most demanding colleges to get into since 2011, while MIT made it on that list for the first time this year after being included in our rankings since 2012.

The college was previously ranked at number four before being bumped down by Stanford last year.

Only 3 percent of applicants were admitted to Harvard during the 2018-2019 admissions cycle.

As you can probably guess, this makes Harvard one of the most demanding universities to enter—and it’s been that way for a long time.

Harvard has historically been among the most selective schools in the United States and on Earth.

The school’s overall acceptance rate has fluctuated since 2000 but has stayed under 5 percent (except in 2012).

In 2016, only 1 in 6 students who applied was accepted; 52 percent of all applicants were turned down that year. That’s right: more than half.

If we look closely at Harvard’s history as an institution and consider its reputation as “the establishment” or even “the elite,” we can see why it might be so challenging to get into:

MIT had a 5 percent acceptance rate during that same period.

MIT had a 5 percent acceptance rate during that same period. Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton also maintained their spots on last year’s Hardest Colleges to Get Into list, with 5 percent acceptance rates each.

MIT uses the Common Application and has no preference for its students to submit supplemental materials. The school’s application fee is $75.

MIT requires the SAT or ACT for all applicants, except those who have been out of high school for five years or longer.

The school does not have essay or recommendation requirements; applicants can submit one letter of recommendation from an MIT faculty member.

The admissions process at MIT is highly competitive. In 2018, the university received 42,857 applications and accepted only 4,629 students — an acceptance rate of 9.9 percent (the lowest acceptance rate reported in over 20 years).

For Stanford, 5.1 percent of applicants received an acceptance letter.

For Stanford, 5.1 percent of applicants received an acceptance letter.

This is a large percentage of accepted people, and a small percentage rejected—and it’s easy to imagine how many more students applied than actually cut.

But it’s also a number that seems pretty hard to believe when you consider how competitive some colleges are:

Harvard’s acceptance rate was below 5 percent, and Princeton’s was slightly higher at 7.7 percent in 2019.

Columbia University only admitted 6 percent of those who applied to their class of 2021—a mere 2,590 out of 36,586 applicants.

Just 5.8 percent of students were admitted to Princeton during 2018-2019.

Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey.

Princeton was established in 1746 when New Light Presbyterians founded the College of New Jersey (renamed Princeton University).

The college was the ninth chartered institution of higher education in the colonies, and thus one of the nine Colonial Colleges established before the American Revolution.

Princeton is one of eight universities that belong to the Ivy League, an athletic conference consisting of schools with highly selective admissions processes and reputations as among America’s best academic institutions.

Carnegie Classification also classified all eight universities as research universities by their “highest degree-granting status.”

In addition to Princeton being considered a “doctoral university” under this definition, it also has been described as a “public ivy” because it resembles some other public land-grant institutions such as Berkeley or Michigan State in its high research activity and shared mission.

Harvard, MIT, and Princeton did not change their ranking from last year’s Hardest Colleges to Get Into list.

If you’re looking for a good college, it’s always a good idea to check the rankings. The U.S. News & World Report publishes its annual list of the Best National Universities and Top Colleges.

-This ranking includes the top universities in the country as well as their most difficult admissions rates.

The Ivy League is one of the most elite schools in America—and one of its members didn’t even make it into our top 10 most complex colleges.

Harvard University is notoriously tricky to get into (it was ranked number three on last year’s list), but MIT came in at number 11 with an acceptance rate of 5%.

Princeton University only accepted 9% of applicants for its class of 2021, which may not seem like much until you realize that means around 1,300 students got rejected from Princeton alone when applying this year.

The most challenging schools.

The most challenging schools to get into have incredibly low admissions rates, with the top four all hovering around five percent.

Harvard’s acceptance rate is less than three percent—so if you’re not accepted, you might want to start looking at other schools that are easier to get into.

MIT and Stanford are second for most difficult universities with 5% and 5.1%, respectively.

Princeton comes in last with 4%. These numbers are based on data from U.S News & World Report from 2018 and 2019 compiled by Niche, which we pulled from their site (you can find it here).

Conclusion

Ultimately, it’s not just about which university is hardest to get into. It’s also about what degree you want and how much you can pay.

If we’re talking about prestige alone, then Princeton or MIT might be worth the hassle if they are your top choice.

But suppose you want value for money or a career path requiring specific skills.

In that case, Harvard might be better suited because their classes are smaller and more focused on teaching students how to think independently rather than following someone else’s rules.