The 15 Hardest Colleges to Get Into in Every US State

2. California Institute of Technology

Caltech, located in Southern California, is known for its intense focus on natural science and engineering.

With an acceptance rate of 7.7%, it's one of the most challenging schools to get into. The average annual cost to attend is $24,466. Caltech requires high academic performance, with admitted students typically scoring between 1530 and 1590 on the SAT. This places it among the world's top institutions like MIT, Oxford, and Harvard.