What is the hardest college to get into?

I'm a junior right now and I'm starting to look into colleges. Out of sheer curiosity, which college is regarded as the hardest to get into? What makes it so challenging, is it tuition, grades, or something else entirely?

The acceptance rates and applicant pools can vary each year, yet Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Harvard University are often considered among the hardest universities to gain admission to in the U.S. I'll share an example of each to give you an idea of what makes them so rigorous to get into.

Let's take Stanford University as an example first. It consistently has one of the lowest acceptance rates in the nation, often below 5%. Stanford seeks students who exhibit intellectual vitality and have demonstrated high achievement in academic, extracurricular, or personal areas. The school's unique interdisciplinary approach to learning tends to attract students who have a clear "spike," or deep passion and achievement in a particular field.

MIT is similar in terms of competitiveness but places a particular emphasis on STEM subjects. MIT looks for technically talented students with an analytical mindset, a helpful attitude, and a strong ethical sense. Aside from strong academic results, you should have some impressive accomplishments in science, engineering, or math-related extracurricular activities in particular to stand out among applicants.

Harvard University is another top-level institution with an acceptance rate consistently below 5% in recent years. Harvard, like MIT and Stanford, values academic prowess and extracurricular involvement, and also thanks to its status as one of the most prestige universities in the world, has access to resources that are remarkable even amongst its peer institutions. So, admissions officers want to be sure that the students they accept are proactive, and will take full advantage of all Harvard has to offer.

While grades, SAT or ACT scores, course rigor, and extracurricular involvement play significant roles in these schools' admissions processes, they also value unique personal qualities and experiences. These can be communicated through college essays, where distinctive anecdotes and reflections are often what admissions officers rely on when deciding between two applicants who are comparably impressive on paper.

Tuition isn't typically a factor in these schools' admissions decisions. All three are need-blind for U.S. students, meaning they don't consider an applicant's ability to pay when making admissions decisions, and MIT and Harvard are both need-blind for international students as well. Additionally, they all offer generous financial aid policies and will meet 100% of demonstrated need.

At Harvard, for instance, families who earn less than $85,000 per year pay nothing towards the cost of attendance, while Stanford has a similar policy for students from families earning up to $100,000 per year, and MIT has the same policy but going all the way up to $200,000 per year. Do note that all three policies assume your family has typical assets outside of annual income.

Remember, while these schools are incredibly selective due to the excellent education they provide, there are many world-class universities and colleges out there that may be a great fit for you. Your goal should be to find schools that align with your academic goals and personal interests, rather than obsessing over acceptance rates.

If you want help building out your college list, you may find college search engines useful, like CollegeVine's, which allows you to filter schools based on a range of factors, including not just selectivity and prestige, but also location, size, majors offered, student/faculty ratio, admissions requirements, and so on. This tool can help you build a list of schools that are sure to be a good all-around fit for you. You can access the search engine here: https://www.collegevine.com/schools/hub

Best of luck with your college process!