When considering a highly selective school, it is important to really examine what they have to offer and if it is the best possible fit for you.
U.S. News and World Report's most selective schools list has a familiar top end, but there are various factors that set them apart from one another. For example, an aspiring engineer should apply to MIT whereas a would-be lawyer might look at Yale or Harvard.
Here are the top 10 most selective schools in the nation, click here for the full list.
1. Stanford University
Location: Stanford, Calif.
Acceptance rate: 5.7 percent
Why apply: Proximity to Silicon Valley, one of the largest and most beautiful campuses in the nation.
2. Harvard University
Location: Cambridge, Mass.
Acceptance rate: 5.8 percent
Why apply: It's a stone's throw from Boston and is arguably the most respected of the Ivies.
3. Columbia University
Location: New York, N.Y.
Acceptance rate: 6.9 percent
Why apply: Situated within the Big Apple, Columbia is a factory for the city's next great leaders and entrepreneurs.
4. Yale University
Location: New Haven, Conn.
Acceptance rate: 6.9 percent
Why apply: The third-oldest institution of higher education in America is also the nation's best law school, according to U.S. News.
5. Princeton University
Location: Princeton, N.J.
Acceptance rate: 7.4 percent
Why apply: Princeton is consistently ranked within the top five in several annual rankings, not just U.S. News'.
6. United States Naval Academy
Location: Annapolis, Md.
Acceptance rate: 7.4 percent
Why apply: Want to be an officer in the Navy or Marine Corp.?
7. Cooper Union
Location: New York, N.Y.
Acceptance rate: 7.7 percent
Why apply: The school is seemingly going to strike down its tuition-free model, but not without a heavy amount of resistance.
8. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Location: Cambridge, Mass.
Acceptance rate: 8.2 percent
Why apply: MIT is arguably the nation's leader in physical sciences, technology and engineering.
9. University of Chicago
Location: Chicago, Ill.
Acceptance rate: 8.8 percent
Why apply: It is U.S. News' fourth-ranked law school and has the nation's oldest university press.
10. United States Military Academy
Location: West Point, N.Y.
Acceptance rate: 9 percent
Why apply: The U.S. Army will cover your tuition in exchange for active duty service upon graduation, but the school produces officers.
