The University of Southern California, or USC, is the oldest private research university in California (don’t let the name fool you, while it sounds like it could be a UC, it is indeed private!). Located near downtown Los Angeles, USC boasts 22 academic schools and units and has an acceptance rate of 12%.

Brown University is an Ivy League school located in Providence, Rhode Island. Perhaps the least stuffy of the Ivies, Brown prides itself on its Open Curriculum, which gives students the opportunity to study without any requirements outside of their major. There are about 10,000 undergrads. The acceptance rate for the class of 2025 was 5.4%. Here’s a bit of advice on how to tackle the supplement:

Johns Hopkins is a private university located on an urban campus in Baltimore, Maryland. There are about 6,200 undergrads at Hopkins and five schools, among them, the acclaimed Bloomberg School of Public Health. There are a ton of opportunities for research and development for Hopkins students. So long as they can get in. With an acceptance rate of 10%, it’s a competitive one. Is it your dream to attend JHU? Here’s how we recommend you tackle the supplement:

Davidson College is a small (1,800 undergraduates) private school in Davidson, North Carolina. The campus is in a suburban setting and the acceptance rate is about 18%. Classes are small, with a student/faculty ratio of 9:1. It’s a tight-knit school with most students living on campus. Popular majors include Poli Sci and Econ. In this post, we’ll tell you how to tackle the supplement:

Columbia University is located in Manhattan in Morningside Heights. Part of the Ivy League, Columbia boasts a 5% acceptance rate. The urban campus is home to 6,200 undergrads and is comprised of three schools: Columbia College, the Fu Foundation School of Engineering, and the School of General Studies. It’s affiliated with the prestigious, historically women’s college down the street, Barnard. Here are some tips for tackling the supplement, which includes several prompts:

Northwestern University is a private school in Evanston, Illinois about 30 minutes outside of Chicago. Known for a healthy mix between academics and social life, it’s part of the Big 10. With an acceptance rate of 9%, it’s a tough school to get into. The undergrad population is about 8,300. In this post, we’ll give you some tips on how to ace the supplement:

The University of Pennsylvania is located in Philadelphia in an urban setting. Founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin, UPenn’s alumni include Warren Buffet, Gloria Allred, and John Legend. With an acceptance rate of just 5.68%, this Ivy League is a very competitive school. Its undergrad population is about 10,000. Here are some tips for the supplement:

Barnard College is a private women’s college located in New York City. It has about 2,600 undergrads. It’s affiliated with Columbia across the street in Morningside Heights. With an acceptance rate of about 11%, it’s highly competitive. Here are some tips for standing out against the competition when writing the Barnard supplements, of which there are three this year.

Boston College is a private, research university in suburban Boston. Much of the BC campus looks like a stately church, that might be because it’s a Jesuit university. While you don’t have to be Jesuit or even Catholic to go there, they do have one of the largest Jesuit communities in the world on their campus. With a high application rate last year, their admissions hover around 18.9%.

Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. For those not from MA, think suburbs of Boston. With a higher than usual amount of applicants for the class of 2025, Tufts has lowered its admission rate to 11%.

The Georgia Institute of Technology is a large public research university in Atlanta, GA. Georgia Tech focuses primarily on science, technology, and engineering, and offers more than 130 degree programs. Georgia Tech has an admissions rate of 20.6%, and they take approximately 60% of their incoming class from Georgia. As such, you’ll want to pay extra attention to this post if you’re applying from outside the Peach State.

The University of Michigan is a large public research institution located in beautiful Ann Arbor. Michigan has almost 30,000 students and offers 280 different undergraduate degree programs. Michigan takes about 50% of their students from out of state. Michigan is a great option for students who are looking for a social, spirited school with great academic opportunities.

Emory is a medium-sized private research university. It’s located in Atlanta, Georgia but many people say that Emory is a “slice of the Northeast.” Emory is quite competitive and the acceptance rate for the class of 2025 was around 13%.

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%.