20 Most Rigorous Colleges (Photos)
Based on academic workload, the quality of the student body and the intensity of professors, these are the colleges where every A is earned.
To determine the most rigorous schools, we looked at both the competitiveness of student peers and of instructors. We analyzed the data on the selectivity of admissions and the student-to-faculty ratio from the National Center for Education Statistics, as well as the student ratings for workload manageability and smartest professors from College Prowler. Lastly, we considered the percentage of classes with fewer than 20 students. All factors were weighted equally.
New York, New York
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.6
Acceptance Rate: 9.5%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 6:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 79.9%
Workload (score out of 10): 9.5
Daniel Barry/Bloomberg, via Getty
Chicago, Illinois
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 10
Acceptance Rate: 16.3%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 6:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 77.2%
Workload (score out of 10): 8.8
Dan Dry/University of Chicago
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.8
Acceptance Rate: 6.2%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 7:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 81.2%
Workload (score out of 10): 8.0
Elise Amendola/AP
Princeton, New Jersey
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.6
Acceptance Rate: 8.5%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 6:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 74.1%
Workload (score out of 10): 8.5
Mel Evans/AP
New Haven, Connecticut
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.9
Acceptance Rate: 7.9%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 6:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 76.3%
Workload (score out of 10): 8.0
Jessica Hill/AP
Stanford, California
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 10
Acceptance Rate: 7.1%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 5:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 68.2%
Workload (score out of 10): 8.3
Paul Sakuma/AP
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.9
Acceptance Rate: 12.4%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 6:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 69.2%
Workload (score out of 10): 8.3
Rusty Kennedy/AP
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.8
Acceptance Rate: 15.1%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 8:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 72.0%
Workload (score out of 10): 8.8
Matt Rourke/AP
Claremont, California
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.7
Acceptance Rate: 14.1%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 8:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 83.0%
Workload (score out of 10): 7.3
Claremont McKenna College/AP
Evanston, Illinois
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.7
Acceptance Rate: 23.1%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 7:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 74.7%
Workload (score out of 10): 8.4
Courtesy Northwestern University
Durham, North Carolina
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.8
Acceptance Rate: 16.5%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 7:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 71.2%
Workload (score out of 10): 8.4
Gerry Broome/AP
Haverford, Pennsylvania
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.6
Acceptance Rate: 25.1%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 8:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 83.2%
Workload (score out of 10): 7.7
Courtesy Haverford College
Lexington, Virginia
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.8
Acceptance Rate: 18.2%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 8:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 71.2%
Workload (score out of 10): 8.5
Doug Plummer/Washington & Lee University
Williamstown, Massachusetts
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.7
Acceptance Rate: 18.7%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 7:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 75.7%
Workload (score out of 10): 7.6
Ian Bradshaw/Williams College
Amherst, Massachusetts
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.7
Acceptance Rate: 13.3%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 8:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 70.2%
Workload (score out of 10): 8.3
Shana Sureck
Gainesville, Georgia
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.2
Acceptance Rate: 33.8%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 8:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 81.7%
Workload (score out of 10): 8.1
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.9
Acceptance Rate: 9.7%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 8:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 66.1%
Workload (score out of 10): 8.3
Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor, via Getty
Claremont, California
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.7
Acceptance Rate: 14.0%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 8:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 72.6%
Workload (score out of 10): 7.6
Courtesy Pomona College
Wellesley, Massachusetts
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.9
Acceptance Rate: 30.7%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 7:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 72.0%
Workload (score out of 10): 8.1
David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe, via Getty
St. Louis, Missouri
Smartest Professors (score out of 10): 9.8
Acceptance Rate: 16.5%
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 8:1
Classes with fewer than 20 students: 66.0%
Workload (score out of 10): 8.5
Joe Angeles/Washington University in St. Louis
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