最近，美国BusinessInsider网站结合学术评论网站Niche.com的学院名单，基于美国教育部报告的分数，大学录取率占60%、SAT/ACT分数占40%，最终得出全美47个州最难进入的大学（阿拉斯加州、特拉华州、内华达州和怀俄明州因为没有足够的学院数据也就没有排名）。
对比下来，美国各州这教育水平质量差距还是很大的，录取率最低的当然要数马萨诸塞州的哈佛大学，而SAT/ACT分数分数最高的则是加州的加州理工大学。具体各州最难进的大学如下：
Alabama: University of Alabama
Acceptance rate: 51.1%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 990-1250
Arizona: Arizona Christian University
Acceptance rate: 56.7%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 840-1090
Arkansas: University of Arkansas
Acceptance rate: 62%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1010-1230
California: California Institute of Technology
Acceptance rate: 8.8%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1500-1600
Colorado: Colorado College
Acceptance rate: 17.9%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1240-1430
Connecticut: Yale University
Acceptance rate: 6.3%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1410-1600
District of Columbia (D.C.): Georgetown University
Acceptance rate: 17.4%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1320-1520
Florida: University of Miami
Acceptance rate: 38.2%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1220-1420
Georgia: Emory University
Acceptance rate: 26.8%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1280-1460
Hawaii: Brigham Young University at Hawaii
Acceptance rate: 34.9%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 970-1170
Idaho: Northwest Nazarene University
Acceptance rate: 65.1%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 900-1180
Illinois: University of Chicago
Acceptance rate: 8.8%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1435-1600
Indiana: University of Notre Dame
Acceptance rate: 21.1%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1340-1520
Iowa: Grinnell College
Acceptance rate: 28.0%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1290-1500
Kansas: Sterling College-Kansas
Acceptance rate: 44.4%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 820-1040
Kentucky: Berea College
Acceptance rate: 33.7%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1020-1226
Louisiana: Tulane University
Acceptance rate: 28%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1230-1410
Maine: Bowdoin College
Acceptance rate: 14.9%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1340-1520
Maryland: Johns Hopkins University
Acceptance rate: 16.1%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1360-1510
Massachusetts: Harvard University
Acceptance rate: 6%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1410-1600
Michigan: University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
Acceptance rate: 32.2%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1280-1480
Minnesota: Carleton College
Acceptance rate: 22.8%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1320-1510
Mississippi: Mississippi Valley State University
Acceptance rate: 16.3%
ACT 25th-75th percentile: 15-19
Missouri: Washington University in St. Louis
Acceptance rate: 17.1%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1420-1570
Montana: Carroll College
Acceptance rate: 57.5%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 990-1250
Nebraska: Union College
Acceptance rate: 52.1%
ACT 25th-75th percentile: 19-25
New Hampshire: Dartmouth College
Acceptance rate: 11.5%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1360-1550
New Jersey: Princeton University
Acceptance rate: 7.4%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1400-1600
New Mexico: New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology
Acceptance rate: 36.4%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1120-1310
New York: Columbia University
Acceptance rate: 7%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1390-1570
North Carolina: Duke University
Acceptance rate: 11.4%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1370-1550
North Dakota: University of Jamestown
Acceptance rate: 64.4%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1066-1227
Ohio: Kenyon College
Acceptance rate: 25.1%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1230-1420
Oklahoma: University of Tulsa
Acceptance rate: 40.3%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1130-1410
Oregon: Reed College
Acceptance rate: 38.7%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1290-1480
Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania
Acceptance rate: 10.4%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1360-1550
Rhode Island: Brown University
Acceptance rate: 8.7%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1330-1550
South Carolina: Clemson University
Acceptance rate: 51.5%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1150-1340
South Dakota: Augustana College
Acceptance rate: 61.3%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1010-1230
Tennessee: Vanderbilt University
Acceptance rate: 13.1%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1430-1580
Texas: Rice University
Acceptance rate: 15.1%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1390-1550
Utah: Brigham Young University
Acceptance rate: 47%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1150-1370
Vermont: Middlebury College
Acceptance rate: 17.2%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1260-1470
Virginia: Washington & Lee University
Acceptance rate: 19.5%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1320-1460
Washington: Whitman College
Acceptance rate: 41%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1200-1430
West Virginia: Concord University
Acceptance rate: 37.8%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 860-1060
Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin
Acceptance rate: 56.9%
SAT 25th-75th percentile: 1180-1400
