Colleges With a 10% to 20% Acceptance Rate
36 colleges in the CollegeCalcAI database have a 10 to 20 percent acceptance rate, spread across 20 states: 7 public and 29 private. The median admitted-student SAT (75th percentile) in this band is 1495. Ranked from most to least selective, the list starts with University of Southern California, Claremont McKenna College, and Boston University. At this level of selectivity, top grades and scores are the entry ticket rather than the deciding factor. Every school here is a reach for everyone, and a balanced list matters more than anywhere else.
- University of Southern California10%acceptanceMost selectiveCA · SAT 1530
- Claremont McKenna College10%acceptanceMost selectiveCA · SAT 1520
- Boston University11%acceptanceHighly selectiveMA · SAT 1500
- University of California, Berkeley11%acceptanceHighly selectiveCA · SAT 1530
- University of Notre Dame11%acceptanceHighly selectiveIN · SAT 1550
- Emory University11%acceptanceHighly selectiveGA · SAT 1520
- Middlebury College11%acceptanceHighly selectiveVT · SAT 1490
- Tufts University11%acceptanceHighly selectiveMA · SAT 1530
- U.S. Military Academy12%acceptanceHighly selectiveNY · SAT 1370
- Carnegie Mellon University12%acceptanceHighly selectivePA · SAT 1550
- Haverford College12%acceptanceHighly selectivePA · SAT 1500
- Washington University in St. Louis12%acceptanceHighly selectiveMO · SAT 1550
- College of the Ozarks12%acceptanceHighly selectiveMO · SAT 1120
- Davidson College13%acceptanceHighly selectiveNC · SAT 1470
- Georgetown University13%acceptanceHighly selectiveDC · SAT 1520
- Bates College13%acceptanceHighly selectiveME · SAT 1470
- Colgate University14%acceptanceHighly selectiveNY · SAT 1460
- Georgia Tech14%acceptanceHighly selectiveGA · SAT 1530
- Tulane University14%acceptanceHighly selectiveLA · SAT 1500
- U.S. Air Force Academy14%acceptanceHighly selectiveCO · SAT 1410
- Hamilton College14%acceptanceHighly selectiveNY · SAT 1500
- Washington and Lee University14%acceptanceHighly selectiveVA · SAT 1470
- Wellesley College14%acceptanceHighly selectiveMA · SAT 1500
- University of North Carolina15%acceptanceHighly selectiveNC · SAT 1470
- Grinnell College15%acceptanceHighly selectiveIA · SAT 1470
- Boston College16%acceptanceHighly selectiveMA · SAT 1520
- University of Michigan16%acceptanceHighly selectiveMI · SAT 1520
- Wesleyan University16%acceptanceHighly selectiveCT · SAT 1490
- University of Virginia17%acceptanceHighly selectiveVA · SAT 1510
- Babson College17%acceptanceHighly selectiveMA · SAT 1420
- Denison University17%acceptanceHighly selectiveOH · SAT 1400
- College of the Holy Cross18%acceptanceHighly selectiveMA · SAT 1400
- Colorado College18%acceptanceHighly selectiveCO · SAT 1440
- University of Miami19%acceptanceHighly selectiveFL · SAT 1480
- Berea College19%acceptanceHighly selectiveKY · SAT 1230
- Vassar College19%acceptanceHighly selectiveNY · SAT 1490
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Acceptance rates and admitted test ranges reflect publicly reported data (U.S. Department of Education / NCES IPEDS / Common Data Sets) and are rounded. Estimates from CollegeCalcAI are a planning tool computed by a fixed, transparent model, not a guarantee of any admission decision.