As high schoolers approach graduation this spring, they’re weighing their options about which college they’ll choose to attend in the fall.
Choices are bountiful around the nation but there are also lots of options among in-state schools — including ones that are trickier to get into than others.
Independent financial news and opinion website 24/7 Wall St. has compiled a list of the colleges that are the hardest to gain admittance to in the U.S.
The site used data from the National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education to determine its list. It then ranked colleges and universities based on an index that included admission rates for the 2019-2020 school year along with the average total math and critical reading SAT scores of students who were admitted in fall 2018.
“Many of the colleges on this list are private schools, which tend to be much more expensive than public schools,” the website said when explaining its methodology. “There are also, however, inexpensive schools across the country — many of which are public institutions — in which students can get a quality education and other advantages that could help set them up for long-term financial success. These are the most affordable colleges with the best outcomes in every state.”
Emory University is one of Georgia’s most competitive schools and it landed on 24/7 Wall St.’s list of the hardest colleges to get into.
A private research institution founded in 1836, the school had a 15.6% acceptance rate for the 2019-2020 school year. More than 30,000 students applied for that period, too.
“The school is popular among foreign students, with 16.0% of the student body consisting of non-resident aliens,” the website wrote in its description of the school’s ranking. “The average annual cost of attending Emory University is relatively high at nearly $67,000.”
U.S. News and World Report placed the school at No. 21 on its 2021 Best National University Rankings. The site also reported it has a 7,118 student enrollment.
