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Best Overall Universities

Top US national universities, ordered to match US News 2026 reference rankings (released Fall 2025).

Top entries are curated; the rest are auto-extended by selectivity.

#SchoolLocation Accept SAT mid-50% ACT mid-50% Undergrads Avg Class Size Type
#1 Princeton Princeton, New Jersey 4.7% 1510-1570 34-35 5,500 ~11 est. private View
#2 MIT Cambridge, Massachusetts 4.5% 1530-1580 35-36 4,600 ~44 est. private View
#3 Harvard Cambridge, Massachusetts 3.6% 1500-1580 34-36 7,200 ~15 est. private View
#4 Stanford Stanford, California 3.9% 1500-1580 33-35 7,800 ~13 est. private View
#5 Yale New Haven, Connecticut 3.7% 1500-1570 33-35 6,500 ~11 est. private View
#6 Caltech Pasadena, California 2.7% 1530-1580 35-36 1,000 ~8 est. private View
#7 Duke Durham, North Carolina 5.1% 1490-1570 33-35 6,700 ~11 est. private View
#8 Johns Hopkins Baltimore, Maryland 6.4% 1500-1560 33-35 5,300 ~13 est. private View
#9 Northwestern Evanston, Illinois 7.0% 1490-1560 33-35 8,500 ~35 est. private View
#10 UPenn Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 5.4% 1490-1560 33-35 10,300 ~18 est. private View
#11 Cornell Ithaca, New York 7.3% 1470-1550 33-35 15,700 ~31 est. private View
#12 Brown Providence, Rhode Island 5.4% 1500-1570 34-35 7,300 ~13 est. private View
#13 University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois 4.6% 1510-1580 34-35 7,500 ~20 est. private View
#14 Columbia New York, New York 3.9% 1490-1570 33-35 8,800 ~46 est. private View
#15 UCLA Los Angeles, California 8.6% 1370-1540 31-35 33,000 ~44 est. public View
#16 UC Berkeley Berkeley, California 11.5% 1340-1530 30-35 33,000 ~40 est. public View
#17 Dartmouth Hanover, New Hampshire 5.4% 1490-1560 33-35 4,500 ~15 est. private View
#18 Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana 8.7% 1450-1540 33-35 8,800 ~18 est. private View
#19 Vanderbilt Nashville, Tennessee 5.6% 1480-1560 33-35 7,100 ~18 est. private View
#20 Rice Houston, Texas 7.7% 1490-1560 34-35 4,500 ~13 est. private View
#21 Wash U St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri 10.5% 1500-1560 33-35 8,200 ~15 est. private View
#22 Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 11.0% 1490-1560 33-35 7,500 ~11 est. private View
#23 University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan 17.7% 1370-1530 31-34 33,000 ~24 est. public View
#24 Emory Atlanta, Georgia 11.0% 1430-1530 31-34 7,100 ~22 est. private View
#25 UVA Charlottesville, Virginia 16.6% 1410-1520 32-35 17,500 ~33 est. public View
#26 Georgia Tech Atlanta, Georgia 16.0% 1430-1530 32-35 18,000 ~42 est. public View
#27 UNC Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina 16.7% 1370-1500 30-33 19,000 ~33 est. public View
#28 USC Los Angeles, California 9.0% 1450-1530 32-35 21,000 ~20 est. private View
#29 Georgetown Washington, District of Columbia 11.0% 1410-1530 32-35 7,500 ~29 est. private View
#30 Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 11.0% 1490-1560 33-35 7,500 ~11 est. private View
#31 NYU New York, New York 8.0% 1450-1540 32-34 29,000 ~24 est. private View
#32 Tufts Medford, Massachusetts 9.5% 1450-1540 33-35 6,700 ~22 est. private View
#33 Wake Forest Winston-Salem, North Carolina 21.0% 1340-1480 30-33 5,500 ~22 est. private View
#34 Case Western Cleveland, Ohio 27.0% 1380-1520 31-34 6,000 ~20 est. private View
#35 Boston College Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 15.5% 1420-1510 32-34 9,500 ~22 est. private View
#36 Tulane New Orleans, Louisiana 11.0% 1370-1500 31-33 8,500 ~15 est. private View
#37 Villanova Villanova, Pennsylvania 22.0% 1370-1490 31-34 7,000 ~22 est. private View
#38 University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas 29.0% 1240-1460 27-33 40,000 ~40 est. public View
#39 University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin 49.0% 1310-1450 27-32 35,000 ~40 est. public View
#40 Lehigh Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 31.0% 1340-1480 30-33 5,500 ~22 est. private View
#41 University of Maryland College Park, Maryland 45.0% 1290-1470 29-33 30,000 ~37 est. public View
#42 William & Mary Williamsburg, Virginia 32.0% 1370-1500 30-33 6,700 ~26 est. public View
#43 University of Florida Gainesville, Florida 23.0% 1340-1460 30-33 35,000 ~37 est. public View
#44 Brandeis Waltham, Massachusetts 39.0% 1380-1510 30-34 3,700 ~22 est. private View
#45 Northeastern Boston, Massachusetts 5.5% 1430-1540 33-35 16,000 ~35 est. private View
#46 GWU Washington, District of Columbia 49.0% 1310-1450 29-33 12,000 ~26 est. private View
#47 Stevens Institute Hoboken, New Jersey 47.0% 1380-1510 31-33 4,000 ~24 est. private View
#48 University of Miami Coral Gables, Florida 19.0% 1340-1480 30-33 12,000 ~24 est. private View
#49 Fordham Bronx, New York 53.0% 1300-1430 29-32 10,000 ~31 est. private View
#50 American University Washington, District of Columbia 49.0% 1280-1430 28-32 8,000 ~22 est. private View
#51 Boston University Boston, Massachusetts 11.0% 1390-1500 31-34 17,600 ~22 est. private View
#52 Binghamton University Binghamton, New York 40.0% 1310-1450 29-32 14,000 ~40 est. public View
#53 University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 49.0% 1240-1420 27-32 20,000 ~26 est. public View
#54 Clemson Clemson, South Carolina 43.0% 1240-1410 27-32 21,000 ~35 est. public View
#55 University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota 70.0% 1280-1450 26-32 36,000 ~37 est. public View
#56 University of Washington Seattle, Washington 43.0% 1240-1430 27-33 36,000 ~44 est. public View
#57 University of Delaware Newark, Delaware 66.0% 1180-1370 26-31 19,000 ~35 est. public View
#58 George Mason Fairfax, Virginia 89.0% 1130-1330 24-30 27,000 ~35 est. public View
#59 Temple Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 80.0% 1170-1340 24-30 24,000 ~40 est. public View
#60 Drexel Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 77.0% 1180-1380 25-31 14,000 ~20 est. private View
#62 Penn State University Park, Pennsylvania 54.0% 1240-1410 27-32 40,000 ~35 est. public View
#63 Michigan State East Lansing, Michigan 83.0% 1110-1310 23-29 39,000 ~37 est. public View
#64 University of South Carolina Columbia, South Carolina 64.0% 1180-1360 25-31 27,000 ~35 est. public View
#65 San Diego State San Diego, California 38.0% 1140-1320 23-29 31,000 ~59 est. public View
#66 Florida State Tallahassee, Florida 37.0% 1230-1370 26-30 33,000 ~37 est. public View
#67 Auburn Auburn, Alabama 46.0% 1170-1340 25-31 24,000 ~46 est. public View
#68 Purdue West Lafayette, Indiana 50.0% 1190-1430 25-33 37,000 ~37 est. public View
#69 University of Connecticut Storrs, Connecticut 54.0% 1230-1410 27-32 23,000 ~37 est. public View
#70 Rutgers New Brunswick, New Jersey 65.0% 1210-1440 26-32 36,000 ~26 est. public View
#71 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Virginia 56.0% 1240-1430 27-32 30,000 ~37 est. public View
#72 University of New Hampshire Durham, New Hampshire 87.0% 1110-1300 24-29 12,000 ~53 est. public View
#73 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon 88.0% 1100-1300 22-28 18,000 ~22 est. public View
#74 University of Vermont Burlington, Vermont 64.0% 1230-1390 27-32 11,000 ~37 est. public View
#75 Swarthmore Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 7.2% 1430-1550 33-35 1,700 ~15 est. private View
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