Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas has 150 years of history as a university centered on helping students “ethical leaders and responsible citizens in the global community.”  The school is fairly selective, with an acceptance rate a little over 50%. at TCU are highly-respected and only about 275 first-year Honors students are admitted annually, compared to nearly undergraduate students overall. Well-performing students often look to the TCU Honors program as a strong option in their college admissions journey. The average GPA of incoming honors students is 3.8, and students represent 15+ countries. TCU is also a member of the Big 12 athletic conference, making it very popular among elite athletes who also want a rigorous academic experience.

Notre Dame is a famed research university with a strong religious backbone. The school is welcoming to students of all faiths, traditions, and backgrounds, but it’s Catholic character “.” There are more than 40 priests in residence, and more than 100 masses are celebrated each week at more than 50 on-campus chapels. They don’t consider any of this to be in conflict with being a globally-renowned scientific research institution. At Notre Dame, the pursuit of truth in the lab, in the classroom, and in oneself is considered a practice of faith. The university has steadily risen in popularity, and the acceptance rate for the Class of 2028 was .

Davidson College is an elite, small liberal arts college located in Davidson (original), North Carolina, about 30 minutes from Charlotte. Side note, North Carolina’s kinda got some banger colleges (UNC, Wake Forest, Duke). Anyways, with under 2,000 undergrads, you can imagine that Davidson is hard to get into – they boast a 14% acceptance rate. That means you need to do everything you can to write amazing supplements to help you stand out among the crowd.

Northwestern is a prestigious research university with about 8,000 undergraduates that encourages interdisciplinary learning, exploration, and the sort of exploration often thought of as unique to liberal arts colleges. The school has become iconic for offering students opportunity to both explore intellectually and develop practically. Northwestern is ranked in the top 10 in the country, and the acceptance rate is only about . They receive around 50,000 applications annually, so figuring out how to stand out in that pool is crucial.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is a large public land-grant research university in, well, Madison, Wisconsin, doncha know. Madison is a quintessential college town. Of course, there are other things going on, but since Wisco students make up 20% of the city’s population, it really feels like a college town. Part of that may have to do with U Wisc’s on-campus culture, which is on the lively side, especially if you love public service,  live sports, or tailgates (go Badgers!). They extended their test-optional policy again this year and last year, only about of enrolled students submitted test scores. However, they do have some specific high school credits that you need to have to apply (and some they recommend). Most of them are pretty standard, but you should double-check that you have completed the , just in case.  Last year, their acceptance rate was 43%, at least for out-of-state applicants (it is more like 60% if you are a resident of the Badger State).

Tufts is a highly-respected university minutes outside of Boston, Massachusetts. They offer more than 90 majors, and have strong research focus. Over 1,500 students work in over 370,000 square feet of research labs across . Tufts students are known for being curious, globally minded, and engaged with their communities. And, while being a research institution, Tufts for students to explore and try new things, building intellectual bridges across subjects. 6,600 undergraduates take courses through : the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts. There are also four campuses, each with its own personality.

Villanova, sometimes shortened to Nova, is a private Catholic university in the Philadelphia suburbs. The school is super famous for its basketball team, but they have a lot more going on. They have a strikingly beautiful campus, six undergraduate schools, a commitment to service, and much more. While they are very proud of their Augustinian Catholic status, you do not need to be catholic to go to Villanova. Last year, they had a . They have also extended their test-optional policy until 2030. Notably, they also publish how many students are accepted without test scores, and last year, 54% of their incoming class didn’t submit. So, when they say test-optional, they really mean it.