These Two Illinois Colleges Are On The Hardest To Get Into List

I remember sitting at the kitchen table with my dad during my senior year in high school to discuss the topic of where I would be going to college. His first comment was "Looking at your grades, I'm surprised that every college in Illinois didn't just go ahead and mail you a rejection letter just to save themselves time later."

Yeah, that was a little on the snarky side, but he wasn't wrong.

Luckily, we found a community college that would take nearly anyone, so I spent about a year there before dropping out to go and hang around radio stations. My dad ended up spending about $2,500 on my college experience, which he didn't think I'd ever have to begin with.

Now, the prices are far higher, and for some of Illinois' and the nation's top schools, the rejection letters (or emails) are flying out faster than ever.

A Website That Specializes In Information, Reviews, And Rankings For Schools, Colleges, And Places To Live In The United States Just Released Their Report On The Nation's Toughest Colleges/Universities To Get Into In 2025

That site is Niche.com, and their latest piece, "2025 Hardest Colleges to Get Into in America" takes a look at the acceptance rates at our nation's top colleges to determine just how exclusive some of them can be.

According to Niche.com's rankings, these are the top 5 hardest to get into colleges in the entire country, along with their rate of acceptance:

1. Minerva University, San Francisco (1 percent)
2. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (3 percent),
3. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (3 percent)
4. Stanford University, Stanford, California (4 percent)
5. Columbia University, New York City (4 percent)

According to Niche, "ACT/SAT scores have been removed from this year's rankings to reflect a general de-emphasis on test scores in the college admissions process."

The Two Illinois Colleges/Universities That Make The Niche List Are In The Top 20 Of Hardest To Get Into

Have you made a guess yet as to which schools we're talking about here? Well, let's go ahead and see if you're right.

The University of Chicago is ranked as the 9th hardest college to get in to in America, with an acceptance rate of 5 percent. The Niche study ranks them very high in academics, diversity, value and campus, not so much with athletics.

Northwestern University in Evanston is ranked as the 18th hardest college to get in to, with an acceptance rate of 7 percent. Niche ranks them high in academics, diversity, athletics, value, campus, and party scene.