The Top 20 Most Competitive Colleges In America – See Which New Jersey School Made The List

When applying to schools, it's recommended you put a "safe school" on your list, the school you're most likely to get into, and a "reach school," which is a little more difficult.

What are the hardest colleges to get into in America?

The 2025 list is out!

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The new ranking by Niche, using data from the U.S. Department of Education, has revealed the most elite schools with extremely low acceptance rates, and one university in New Jersey made it into the top 10.

These institutions admit such a small fraction of applicants each year, with the acceptance rate for the number one school in America at just one percent.

The full list is below, but first, which schools are the most competitive institutions in New Jersey?

Read More: Starbucks Gives New Jersey A little Taste of Its Refreshing 2025 Summer Menu

The most difficult colleges to get into in New Jersey

Patch provided a list of the top 3 hardest schools to get into in New Jersey, which include:

3. Stevens Institute of Technology

Acceptance rate: 46 percent

2. Eastern International College - Jersey City

Acceptance rate: 17 percent

1. Princeton University

Acceptance rate: 6 percent

What are the most difficult colleges to get into in America?

20. Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts - 7 percent

19. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore - 7 percent

18. Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois - 7 percent

17. Pomona College, Claremont, California - 7 percent

16. Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania - 7 percent

15. Northeastern University, Boston - 7 percent

14. Vanderbilt University, Nashville - 7 percent

13. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia - 7 percent

12. Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire - 6 percent

11. Duke University, Durham, North Carolina - 6 percent

10. Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey - 6 percent

9. University of Chicago - 5 percent

8. Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island - 5 percent

7. Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut - 5 percent

6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge - 4 percent

5. Columbia University, New York City - 4 percent

4. Stanford University, Stanford, California - 4 percent

3. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts - 3 percent

2. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena - 3 percent

1. Minerva University, San Francisco - 1 percent