Wellesley is a private women’s college in Massachusetts. The liberal arts school is one of the original Seven Sisters Schools, an informal grouping of prestigious women’s colleges. This suburban school on Lake Waban is committed to female excellence and leadership. They are serious about being women only (trans women are more than welcome) but they have recently made allowances for non-binary people if they are AFAB and are comfortable being in all-women spaces (lots to unpack there, we know). If your application doesn’t state that you “live as a woman and consistently identify as woman,” they may ask for more information in the form of a letter “from a parent, healthcare provider, teacher, or clergy.” With a record number of applicants last year, their acceptance rate was 16%.

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public school located in the heart of Madison off of Lake Mendota. With over 30k students, the large research institution has 20 schools which include the College of Letters and Science, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and the School of Medicine and Public Health. The acceptance rate to UWM hovered around 53% for non-residents and 73% for residents last year.

Vanderbilt is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt is a medium-sized school (around 7,000 undergraduates attend) and the school is known for its traditions, academic rigor, and fun social scene. Some people go so far as to call Vanderbilt the “Harvard of the South.” The acceptance rate for the class of 2025 was 6.7%.

Duke is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. It’s a good fit for those students (with straight A’s and near-perfect test scores) who are looking to attend a school with top-notch academic programs and a booming social and sports scene. Duke’s acceptance rate dropped even lower last year and ended up somewhere around 6%.

Middlebury is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Middlebury is known for its programs in environmental studies, language, and global studies. About 2,500 undergraduate students attend the school and average class size is around 16 students per class. The acceptance rate was 15.7% for the class of 2025.

Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It’s a small school with under 1,800 students and 100% of the student population lives on campus, which is rare. Fun fact: there are no stoplights in Gambier! The acceptance rate is around 34%.

Hamilton is a small liberal arts school in Clinton, New York with about 1,850 undergraduate students on campus. Students at Hamilton love the culture on campus and the tight-knit community, and if you love freezing winters, you just might love it too. The acceptance rate is around 16%.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school is known for its STEM programs, but MIT also expects applicants to be well-rounded with diverse and dynamic interests. Their programs are truly top-notch and the school is known for outstanding resources and a competitive environment. The for the class of 2025 was 4%.

Connecticut College is a small liberal arts school in New London, Connecticut. About 1,800 undergraduate students attend the school, and it’s known for having outstanding professors. The student-faculty is 9:1, so you’ll get the chance to get to know them (and even stay in touch with them after graduation, as we wrote about here.) The acceptance rate is around 37%.

Macalester is a small liberal arts school that has around 2,000 undergrads and is located in St. Paul, Minnesota. It’s incredibly picturesque and, yes, St. Paul is a real city. It’s bustling! The school itself has gotten increasingly popular because of its academic rigor combined with school spirit and strong community. It has everything and is on a lovely campus placed in a larger city with lots of cool internships, cultural landmarks, and work opportunities. It’s also the perfect size if you want to be able to recognize and run into people you know all of the time while you walk across campus. It’s the ideal “cozy liberal arts” moment.

Known for its iconic football team, the Fighting Irish, the University of Notre Dame is a Catholic research university located just outside of South Bend, Indiana. Four out of five of the university’s 8,700 undergrads live on campus. As a somewhat progressive school with a rich tradition, the website says, “It is dedicated to religious belief no less than to scientific knowledge.” The acceptance rate is 16 percent.

Mount Holyoke is a private liberal arts college located in South Hadley, MA. Mount Holyoke is a women’s college—the oldest of the famed Seven Sisters—but it also describes itself as being “…a women’s college that is gender diverse.” The school is also part of the Five College Consortium, meaning students can take classes at four other nearby universities. The student population is just over 2,000 and the student-faculty ratio is 9:1. The acceptance rate is 38%.

The University of Richmond is located in Richmond, VA with a little more than 3,000 undergraduates. It’s a relatively challenging school to get into and is definitely academically rigorous. With an academic emphasis in the liberal arts, Richmond students rave about small class sizes, a gorgeous campus, and a diverse array of courses and extracurricular available to them. We’re going to walk you through how to tackle their supplement.

Georgetown is a small/medium-ish university with a little more than 7,500 undergraduates. It’s located on a picturesque campus in Washington, DC. It’s technically a institution, which means, basically, that spirituality, service, and community engagement are super important on campus. But it’s definitely not pushy about it, and no matter your religious affiliation (or lack thereof), you’ll be able to find a . It’s super academically rigorous and an overall great, and competitive, school.

There is only one University of California application, and the application can go to any the following nine schools: UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside, and UC Merced.

Lehigh University is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the state’s beautiful Lehigh Valley region. Study abroad is a popular option at the school and student/teacher ratios are small (9:1). The school offers five colleges and is prominent in the sciences. The total undergraduate population is just over 5,000 and the acceptance rate is 32 percent.

Trinity is a private liberal arts school in Hartford, Connecticut. Around 2,000 undergraduate students attend the school, and the student to faculty ratio is 9:1. The acceptance rate for the class of 2024 was 35%.

Wake Forest is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with an undergraduate population of just under 5,300 undergraduates. The school has been test-optional since 2009, and the acceptance rate is just below 30%.

Carnegie Mellon is a research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While the school does offer art and humanities degrees, it is most known for the science, computing, and engineering programs. Carnegie Mellon breaks down their admissions statistics by college and program, .