Research the 500 best colleges in the US and
estimate your chances of getting into them!

College 500 uses a proprietary algorithm to score US colleges and universities.

The problem with any ranking of colleges and universities is that the best school for one student may not be the best school for another student. For example, the best school for an engineering student may not be the best school for a liberal arts major. The best school for getting into graduate school might not be the best school for landing a great job.

Therefore, rankings - ours included - are general in nature: they are only applicable to the typical student, with the typical major, who has typical interests, needs, and goals. We've penalized schools that are too big or too small, or who are not diverse enough in the gender and ethnic make-up of their student body.

Smaller schools may offer more personalized attention compared to feeling like you're lost in the crowd at a larger institution. But larger schools may offer more diverse programs and have a stronger career center and alumni network for when it comes time to look for a job.

Many schools offer honors programs, and being accepted to such is like going to a top school on the list. And many schools have certain degree programs which are considered top in their field. For example, the University of Rhode Island's pharmaceutical program is considered one of the best in the country.

Finally, our ranking is in large part based on self-reported standardized test scores and other statistics. This information is not independently verified and could contain factual or other errors.

Our estimates of your chances to get into the various colleges are by no means perfect either:

• - We primarily look at your standardized test scores while colleges take into consideration a much broader set of criteria
• - Colleges will employ some level of subjectivity that is impossible to capture in a mathematical model, including essays, interviews, recommendation letters, and what is known as "demonstrated interest"
• - Colleges are looking for well-rounded classes and may make decisions with that in mind instead of looking solely at the merits of each individual

In estimating chances, we assume that colleges are gender and ethnicity blind, but there are several schools where that is not the case. We also don't consider if a student lives in a state where the college is located, which is relevant because many public universities are required by law to take a certain percentage of students from that state.

If your chance to get into a college is displayed as "<1%", it may be because it requires a test score that you did not provide (e.g. a school may require an ACT score but you only provided an SAT score).

For these and other reasons, we never present an estimated chance of getting in that is greater than 99% or less than 1%. We make no guarantee that our predictions are accurate or correct.