Who wouldn’t want to study at one of the best universities in the United States, if money wasn’t an object? But, even if you can afford it, this won’t be enough. Competition can be tough, so every extra piece of information is a plus.
That’s why we collected the acceptance rates for the top 20 universities in the U.S., as featured in the latest QS Rankings, from TopUniversities.com. The acceptance rates are the official numbers for the 2020 application intake.
What exactly are acceptance rates? Well, this is the percentage of the students who got accepted after going through the application process of the university. This should not be confused with enrolment rates, which is the percentage of students who got accepted and then chose to actually start studying at that university.
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At the end of the article, we’ve also included the 2020 graduation rates for the top 20 universities. This is the percentage of students who graduate their studies from the universities, from the number of students who enrolled.
Best universities in the U.S. – Acceptance rates for 2020
As expected, the best unis in the United States also have the lowest acceptance rates in the country. There are a lot of students applying and the universities have very strict admission standards. So, the competition is very tight.
Just keep in mind that universities with low acceptance rates aren’t necessarily the right ones for you. This is your education, not a popularity contest. It’s more important to find an academic programme that you’re interested in and speaks to your interests and future career.
Here are the acceptance rates for the best universities in the U.S.:
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – 6.7%
- Stanford University – 4.34%
- Harvard University – 4.92%
- California Institute of Technology (Caltech) – 8%
- University of Chicago – 7.9%
- University of Pennsylvania – 10%
- Yale University – 7%
- Columbia University – 6.1%
- Princeton University – 6.5%
- Cornell University - 15%
- University of Michigan-Ann Arbor - 26%
- Johns Hopkins University - 14%
- Northwestern University - 28%
- University of California, Berkeley (UCB) - 17%
- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - 17%
- New York University (NYU) - 32%
- University of California, San Diego (UCSD) – 30.2%
- Duke University – 7.6%
- Carnegie Mellon University – 15.4%
- Brown University – 9.3%
Acceptance rates of other good universities in the U.S.
If the numbers at top U.S. universities seem too low, here are a few universities with higher acceptance rates that we recommend:
- University of Portland - 76,7%
- Boston University - 33%
- Florida Atlantic University - 63,3%
- American University Washington DC - 36,1%
- Drexel University - 74,7%
- University of San Francisco - 64,4%
- University of Texas at Austin - 31,8%
Best universities in the U.S. – Graduation rates for 2020
Ok, acceptance rates at the top U.S. universities are pretty low. But how about the graduation rates? What percentage of students who get accepted and enroll actually finish their studies at the university?
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – 92,7%
- Stanford University – 94%
- Harvard University – 98%
- California Institute of Technology (Caltech) – 79%
- University of Chicago – 94.2%
- University of Pennsylvania – 95.2%
- Yale University – 97%
- Columbia University – 95%
- Princeton University – 97.6%
- Cornell University - 93%
- University of Michigan-Ann Arbor - 90%
- Johns Hopkins University - 94%
- Northwestern University - 93,5%
- University of California, Berkeley (UCB) - 92%
- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - 91%
- New York University (NYU) - 84%
- University of California, San Diego (UCSD) – 87,2%
- Duke University – 94.5%
- Carnegie Mellon University – 88%
- Brown University 95,5%
It makes sense that students who get accepted at top-tier universities are more motivated to finish their studies given the effort, time, and financial investment.
