In this blog post, you will find a curated list of the hardest universities in the world to get into. Having knowledge of this will direct you on what school to apply to and also help facilitate your admission.
So, you are fresh out of high school or in your final years and have started talking with your teachers, friends, and parents, and sourcing the web on what school to apply for, which is a good move. At this phase of your life, you will need to get as much information as possible that can help facilitate your admission.
This includes details such as universities and their location, university rankings on local and international levels, program offerings, financial packages, entry requirements, acceptance rates, and many more. As professionals in the education niche, we at Study Abroad Nations, have provided thousands of helpful guides, to assist prospective students like you find their dream college.
This post on the hardest universities to get into is also one of the guides that can help you in your search for a suitable school to apply to. We also have other helpful guides like degrees for high school students that hate math and science, the best undergraduate engineering schools in the world, the best colleges for undergraduate English majors, and many more on music schools, art schools, culinary schools, and online colleges.
These are all useful articles that you can use as guides to kickstart your journey as a college student and later into the workforce.
In my research on these hardest universities in the world, it turns out that these schools are actually some of the most prestigious universities in the world. some of the reasons that make them hard to get into include their national and international recognition as the world’s best, their prestigious program offering, and the contributions and impact they have made to the world.
Due to these factors and many others that I didn’t mention, these universities have set the bar high in the type of students they admit and also their admission requirements thereby making their admission percentages as low as possible so that only the best among the best can get in.
So, if you’d be applying to any of these schools, prepare yourself for their tough and rigorous admissions process and tight competition.
The truth is, all universities are competitive to enter but some are higher than others, making them difficult to enter.
Based on acceptance rates figures and class profiles of the universities themselves, I have compiled a list of the 10 hardest universities in the world to get into so that you can prepare yourself if you are planning to apply to one of these schools.
Hardest Universities To Get Into In The World
From my research, most, in fact, top 10 of the hardest universities to get into in the world are based in the United States, so, rather than just list it that way, I decided to diversify the list and include universities from other parts of the world. Without any further ado, let’s get started.
- Stanford University
- Princeton University
- Harvard University
- London School of Economics and Political Science
- Hyogo College of Medicine
- RWTH Aachen University
- The University of Chicago
- Brown University
- Duke University
- National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
1. Stanford University
First on the list on the list of hardest universities to get into in the US and in the world is Stanford University which you may already know how prestigious it is. It is one of the most recognized athletic schools in the US, and according to CBS News and the US News & World Reports considers the school to be the ‘most selective’, the acceptance rate of Stanford is 4%, and consistently ranked among the best universities in the world.
Stanford University is located in California and is a private research university with a large campus of over 8,000 acres with more than 17,000 students enrolled in its seven schools. You can take a couple of free online courses from Stanford and get a certification upon completion. Prospective graduate students can also enroll in online masters at Stanford University and get a widely recognized degree from the comfort of their homes.
2. Princeton University
Princeton University ranks second on our list of hardest universities to get into in the US and in the world as a whole. It is one of the prestigious Ivy League colleges which are globally recognized for its world-class academic offerings and athletics superiority. Princeton is located in New Jersey and is one of the five oldest higher institutions in the US.
According to CBS News, the acceptance rate of Princeton University is 6%. The school is organized into 6 schools providing undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences to 8,500 students.
3. Harvard University
You must have been expecting Harvard University to appear on the first list due to how famous its rigorous application process is. Everyone just knows Harvard is incredibly hard to get into and they are correct. Harvard University only admits 5.4% of those who apply, therefore, to get a seat at this prestigious higher institution you have to be a stronger applicant.
This Ivy League college has produced some of the most incredible and popular individuals in the world including 8 US presidents, multiple heads of state, and 130 Nobel Laureates.
4. London School of Economics and Political Science
Taking a few breaks from discussing only US institutions, the London School of Economics and Political Science is a prestigious public research university in London recognized among the hardest universities in the world to get into. This school is also among the best in the world to get a degree in political science and also one of the best law schools in the UK.
With an acceptance rate as low as 8.9%, the London School of Economics and Political Science is tougher to gain admission to compared to Oxford and Cambridge as you may have thought.
5. Hyogo College of Medicine
Let me take you to the other part of the continent in Japan where we find Hyogo College of Medicine, one of the hardest universities in the world to get into with an acceptance rate of 7.2%. It is a private university located in Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan.
6. RWTH Aachen University
RWTH Aachen University is a public research higher institution located in Aachen, Germany, and is considered to be the largest technical university in the country with more than 47,000 students enrolled. With a large number of students, it is hard and highly competitive to gain admission into RWTH because of its low acceptance rate of just 10%.
There are some perks to the school, for example, being one of the cheapest schools in Europe for international students and one of the schools where you can obtain an MBA for free in Germany.
7. The University of Chicago
According to CBS News, the University of Chicago has an acceptance rate of 6% which makes it one of the most difficult universities to get into. It is a private research university in Chicago and consistently ranked among the best universities in the world and also among the most selective in the US.
The University of Chicago consists of an undergraduate college, five graduate schools, and six professional schools. Altogether, they offer a wide range of prestigious academic programs in various fields and disciplines.
8. Brown University
This Ivy League has an acceptance rate of 7% which makes it one of the most difficult universities in the US and the world to get into. Located in Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Brown University is one of the oldest universities in the US and the first in the nation to begin accepting students regardless of their religious affiliations.
Brown University has produced 27 Pulitzer Prize winners, 19 billionaires, 4 US Secretaries of States, 57 Rhodes Island Scholars, and 38 Olympic medalists. These are records that make the university fiercely competitive.
9. Duke University
Duke University has a tough and rigorous admission process that puts its acceptance rate at 8%, therefore, you have to be a stronger applicant to gain admission into this school. Duke is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina consistently ranked among the best in the nation and the world at large.
It is a huge school of more than 8,600 acres and has over 16,700 students enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate study levels. Undergraduate admissions are among the most selective in the country.
10. National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
Last but not least is the National Autonomous University of Mexico with a tough and competitive admission process and an acceptance rate of 10%. All Nobel Laureates from Mexico are either alumni or faculty of UNAM. Also, it is consistently ranked among the best universities in the Latin American world.
UNAM is very large with a campus size of 7.3 km square with more than 350,000 students enrolled and over 41,000 academic staff. Both undergraduate and graduate programs are offered in a wide range of disciplines including business, social sciences, humanities, and engineering.
These are the hardest universities in the world to get into and their additional information which you can use to determine where you can apply.
Hardest Universities To Get Into – FAQs
[sc_fs_faq html=”true” headline=”h3″ img=”” question=”What is the hardest university in the world to get into?” img_alt=”” css_class=””] With an acceptance rate of 4%, Stanford University is the hardest university in the world to get into. [/sc_fs_faq]