If you’re familiar with our blog, you know by now that we don’t subscribe to the “Ivy League is best” line of thinking. The schools on this list were chosen for various reasons – strong academic programs, heavy research emphasis, and special opportunities. Keep reading for some of our favorites, and we encourage you to do your own research as well!

Williams is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It’s a small school with and an acceptance rate that hovers around 13%. They’re known for their and have several unique offerings including Williams in Africa and the Williams-Exeter Program at Oxford.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is in, you guessed it, Massachusetts. The school is a private research university and it’s known for innovative research programs. There are several undergraduate departments under MIT’s umbrella, including the school of architecture and planning, the school of engineering, and the school of humanities, arts, and social sciences. MIT has made it on the shortlist of non-Ivy League schools with an acceptance rate below 10%, and the environment is known for its competitive nature.

Carnegie Mellon is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While there is a college for fine arts with a drama program that students rave about, the school is most known for their engineering and computer science programs. The acceptance rate varies by college and program, and you can read more about it .

Georgetown University is a popular choice for politically minded high school students who want to live and study in the nation’s capital. All of their programs are rigorous, but the most popular fields of study are Business and Global Affairs, Culture and Politics, International Economics, International Politics, and IPEC: International Political Economy. 

Bowdoin College is a very small private liberal arts school in Brunswick, Maine. There is a 9:1 student to faculty ratio, and 71% of classes have less than 20 students per class. If you’re looking for a liberal arts degree and a tight-knit community on campus, Bowdoin might be worth considering.

JHU is a private research university located in Baltimore, Maryland. It’s a medium sized school with just under 6,000 undergraduate students, and you can explore their academic programs . The school offers a diverse set of majors, including top notch STEM programs such as Behavioral Biology, Cognitive Science, and the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology.

Amherst is a small private liberal arts schools in Amherst, Massachusetts. Critical thinking skills, the ability to innovate, and strong speaking and writing skills are important aspects of their curriculum. Amherst is a member of the five-college consortium, so students can take classes at nearby Mount Holyoke, Smith, and UMass Amherst.

Barnard is an all-women’s college in uptown New York City. The school has gotten hugely popular in the last few years, and not just because students can take classes at Columbia, which is just across the street. The programs are outstanding, there’s a great sense of community on campus, and Barnard is also home to a wide range of extracurricular activities. You can read more about their academic programs and the first-year seminar by clicking on .  

Swarthmore is a small liberal arts college outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It’s part of the tri-college consortium which includes Bryn Mawr and Haverford College. Their arts and humanities programs are excellent, but the school also has a strong engineering program. Students are urged to take classes outside of their chosen academic discipline and the schools prides itself on allowing students to be in charge of their own journey of self-discovery. It is incredibly difficult to get into Swarthmore – the acceptance rate is around 9%.

 

Vassar is a liberal arts college that is deeply committed to academic responsibility, sustainability, and diversity. About 2,400 students attend the school, and it’s located in Poughkeepsie, New York. The breadth of programs is impressive, especially for a small school. Students at Vassar speak highly of their professors, and research is high encouraged. The acceptance rate for the class of 2024 was 23.5%.

If you need help deciding where to apply and finding programs that fit, contact us here.