Notre Dame is a famed research university with a strong religious backbone. The school is welcoming to students of all faiths, traditions, and backgrounds, but it’s Catholic character “informs all it does.” There are more than 40 priests in residence, and more than 100 masses are celebrated each week at more than 50 on-campus chapels. They don’t consider any of this to be in conflict with being a globally-renowned scientific research institution. At Notre Dame, the pursuit of truth in the lab, in the classroom, and in oneself is considered a practice of faith. The university has steadily risen in popularity, and the acceptance rate for the Class of 2028 was only 11%.

Davidson College is an elite, small liberal arts college located in Davidson (original), North Carolina, about 30 minutes from Charlotte. Side note, North Carolina’s kinda got some banger colleges (UNC, Wake Forest, Duke). Anyways, with under 2,000 undergrads, you can imagine that Davidson is hard to get into – they boast a 14% acceptance rate. That means you need to do everything you can to write amazing supplements to help you stand out among the crowd.

Northwestern is a prestigious research university with about 8,000 undergraduates that encourages interdisciplinary learning, exploration, and the sort of exploration often thought of as unique to liberal arts colleges. The school has become iconic for offering students opportunity to both explore intellectually and develop practically. Northwestern is ranked in the top 10 in the country, and the acceptance rate is only about 7%. They receive around 50,000 applications annually, so figuring out how to stand out in that pool is crucial.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is a large public land-grant research university in, well, Madison, Wisconsin, doncha know. Madison is a quintessential college town. Of course, there are other things going on, but since Wisco students make up 20% of the city’s population, it really feels like a college town. Part of that may have to do with U Wisc’s on-campus culture, which is on the lively side, especially if you love public service,  live sports, or tailgates (go Badgers!). They extended their test-optional policy again this year and last year, only about 54% of enrolled students submitted test scores. However, they do have some specific high school credits that you need to have to apply (and some they recommend). Most of them are pretty standard, but you should double-check that you have completed the required units, just in case.  Last year, their acceptance rate was 43%, at least for out-of-state applicants (it is more like 60% if you are a resident of the Badger State).

Tufts is a highly-respected university minutes outside of Boston, Massachusetts. They offer more than 90 majors, and have strong research focus. Over 1,500 students work in over 370,000 square feet of research labs across Tufts. Tufts students are known for being curious, globally minded, and engaged with their communities. And, while being a research institution, Tufts makes room for students to explore and try new things, building intellectual bridges across subjects. 6,600 undergraduates take courses through three colleges: the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts. There are also four campuses, each with its own personality.

Villanova, sometimes shortened to Nova, is a private Catholic university in the Philadelphia suburbs. The school is super famous for its basketball team, but they have a lot more going on. They have a strikingly beautiful campus, six undergraduate schools, a commitment to service, and much more. While they are very proud of their Augustinian Catholic status, you do not need to be catholic to go to Villanova. Last year, they had a 23% acceptance rate. They have also extended their test-optional policy until 2030. Notably, they also publish how many students are accepted without test scores, and last year, 54% of their incoming class didn’t submit. So, when they say test-optional, they really mean it.

Williams is an extremely selective and well-respected liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The school is small, tight-knit, and offers both an exceptional education and outstanding community. This attracts many top high school applicants, often with the fallacy that it’ll be easier to get into than the Ivy League — but that isn’t really the case anymore. Williams isn’t a member of the Ivy League, but it is like getting into the Ivy League. The acceptance rate for the class of 2028 was only 7.5%.

Pomona College is located in Claremont, California (think Los Angeles suburbs… even though technically, it's outside Anaheim). While Pomona is a small school with only around 1.5k undergrads, it is part of the Claremont Colleges consortium. The consortium is made up of several liberal arts schools, namely Pomona, Scripps, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, and Pitzer, who share a singular campus. Currently, they are still test-optional, and last year, only 44% of enrolled students sent scores. Pomona is one of the wealthiest schools out there, with a $2.8 BILLION endowment. This is incredibly high for such a small student body. They also have one of the lowest acceptance rates among liberal arts schools; last year, their acceptance rate was only 6.7%.

Boston College, sometimes just called BC, is a private Jesuit college in… well… “Boston” (it is actually a few miles outside of the city in the village of Chestnut Hill). BC is a popular choice for students looking for a suburban mid-sized college, especially those who want fun sports traditions, service opportunities, and no Greek life. Add a need-blind financial aid and test-optional admissions policies, and it is no wonder that over 40,000 students applied to be part of the Class of 2026. Last year, their acceptance rate was around 15%, so BC is pretty selective. If you hope to get in, you want your application to be as strong as possible, and part of that is writing a great supplement.