Colleges With the Lowest Acceptance Rates in MN, WI, and IA

If you have a high schooler right now, you already know, college talk is everywhere. Campus tours. Application deadlines. Cost. It’s a whole thing. My junior is fully in college mode at the moment and I’m pretending to be fine about it. (I’m not crying, you’re crying.)

But while we’re scheduling tours and buying overpriced sweatshirts at the school spirit shops, it got me thinking… how hard is it actually to get in? Especially when compared to some the most prestigious schools in the country?

We all know the big names. Columbia, only 4 percent of people that apply get accepted. Same with Stanford and Minerva University. Harvard has a 3% acceptance rate. And the absolute hardest college to get into in the entire country? California Institute of Technology with a 3% acceptance rate.

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Those numbers are wild. But, just how difficult is it to get into colleges in the Midwest compared to those schools? According to Niche, these are the hardest colleges to get in to in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin-Madison

UW Madison has the highest admission rate of the three Midwest states accepting 43% of applicants according to Niche. It’s a highly rated public university that was actually recently named one of the best schools in America.

It’s big, more than 34,000 full-time undergrads, with popular majors including Information Science, Economics, and Psychology. Wisconsin graduates about 89 percent of its students.

Iowa: Grinnell College

Now if we’re talking selective, Grinnell is in a different category.

This small Iowa liberal arts college has a low 13 percent acceptance rate. Grinnell is known for offering a rigorous, elite academic experience that attracts some seriously high-achieving students.

Small classes, close faculty relationships, and strong career outcomes are part of the draw. It’s not easy to get in… but that’s kind of the point.

Minnesota: Carleton College in Northfield.

Located in Northfield, this highly rated private college enrolls just over 2,000 full-time undergraduates with an acceptance rate of just 22 percent. Popular majors include Computer Science, Biology, and International Relations.

Carleton also graduates about 91 percent of its students, which is impressive by any standard. It’s one of those schools that quietly builds a big reputation without being flashy about it.