College Rankings 2014

25 Most Rigorous Colleges (Photos)

The Daily Beast looks at workload, competitiveness, and professors to find which colleges aren’t handing out the easy A’s.

The Daily Beast

By Brandy ZadroznyNov 06, 2014

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141104-collegerankings-hardest_s0fkob — To find out which schools are offering the most rigorous education, we looked at the quality of the student body and of their instructors. First, we scored colleges on the selectiveness of admissions with data from the National Center for Education Statistics as an indicator of student competition, weighted 50 percent. Student surveys provided by Niche on workload manageability made up 30 percent. We made up the remaining 20 percent by assessing the amount of time students were likely to spend with the best instructors. For this, we used Niche surveys on schools with the smartest professors combined with data on class size from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Quinn Ryan/The Daily Beast

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141104-claremont-mckenna-tease_wxkzna — #25

Claremont McKenna College

Claremont, California

Smartest Professors Score: 8.9

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 12%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 8:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 6.3
Reed Saxon/AP

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest24_inaybi — #24

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, Maryland

Smartest Professors Score: 8.8

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 18%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 10:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 4.8
Andre Jenny/Alamy

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest23_rw7wwj — #23

Colgate University

Hamilton, New York

Smartest Professors Score: 9.5

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 26%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 9:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 3.6
Debra Millet/Alamy

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest22_os4mqm — #22

Wake Forest University

Winston Salem, North Carolina

Smartest Professors Score: 9.0

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 35%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 11:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 1.6
Andre Jenny/Alamy

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest21_cpy8sb — #21

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

Smartest Professors Score: 8.1

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 15%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 7:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 5.0
Sarah Hadley/Alamy

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest20_rvsiyg — #20

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Smartest Professors Score: 9.1

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 12%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 6:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 5.6
JG Photography/Alamy

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest19_cbbxkn — #19

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Smartest Professors Score: 8.7

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 25%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 13:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 2.3
Directphoto Collection/Alamy

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest18_o446ry — #18

Washington and Lee University

Lexington, Virginia

Smartest Professors Score: 10.0

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 18%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 8:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 4.5
Andre Jenny/Alamy

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest17_v7mt6v — #17

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, Tennessee

Smartest Professors Score: 8.7

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 13%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 8:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 4.9
Sean Pavone/Alamy

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest16_ee8lz5 — #16

Stanford University

Stanford, California

Smartest Professors Score: 9.8

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 6%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 12:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 5.9
Justin Sullivan/Getty

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest15_u2ztob — #15

Davidson College

Davidson, North Carolina

Smartest Professors Score: 7.8

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 26%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 10:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 1.6
Davis Turner

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest14_h4pueq — #14

Amherst College

Amherst, Massachusetts

Smartest Professors Score: 8.9

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 14%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 8:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 4.2
AugustSnow/Alamy

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest13_xvefwj — #13

Duke University

Durham, North Carolina

Smartest Professors Score: 8.3

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 13%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 7:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 4.3
Diana Pappas/Alamy

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest12_geuyf9 — #12

Yale University

New Haven, Connecticut

Smartest Professors Score: 9.5

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 7%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 6:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 5.9
Michelle McLoughlin/Reuters

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest11_vdv1bm — #11

Cornell University

Ithaca, New York

Smartest Professors Score: 9.1

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 16%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 12:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 3.3
James Schwabel/Alamy

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest10_jjqyr8 — #10

Dartmouth College

Hanover, New Hampshire

Smartest Professors Score: 7.8

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 10%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 8:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 4.4
David R. Frazier/Alamy

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest8_wfr1fr — #9

Harvard University

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Smartest Professors Score: 8.4

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 6%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 7:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 5.0
Joe Raedle/Getty

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141104-harvey-mudd-tease_nnilwf — #8

Harvey Mudd College

Claremont, California

Smartest Professors Score: 8.7

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 18%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 8:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 2.4
John Linden for Harvey Mudd College

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest7_c1x5nn — #7

Middlebury College

Middlebury, Vermont

Smartest Professors Score: 9.2

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 17%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 9:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 2.2
Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest6_ysp33g — #6

Princeton University

Princeton, New Jersey

Smartest Professors Score: 8.6

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 7%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 6:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 3.7
Â© Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest5_u2knua — #5

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Smartest Professors Score: 9.8

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 8%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 8:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 3.5
Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest4_ihcnle — #4

Swarthmore College

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

Smartest Professors Score: 9.3

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 14%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 8:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 1.7
ClassicStock/Alamy

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest3_xbdtap — #3

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Smartest Professors Score: 9.9

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 9%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 6:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 3.0
P.Spiro/Alamy

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest2_ui7zcc — #2

Cooper Union

New York, New York

Smartest Professors Score: 8.8

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 8%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 8:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 2.4
Spencer Platt/Getty

galleries/2014/11/06/20-most-rigorous-colleges-photos/141030-colleges-hardest1_xzhalk — #1

Columbia University

New York, New York

Smartest Professors Score: 8.4

Percent of Applicants Admitted: 7%

Student to Faculty Ratio: 6:1

Workload Manageability Score (lower=harder): 2.0
Mario Tama/Getty

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