Our Labs Have Labs
These are the hyper-funded research behemoths where undergrads play with billion-dollar particle accelerators before breakfast. You will be absolutely crushed by the workload, but your name might end up on a Nobel-winning paper before you can legally drink.
| # ▲ | University | Location | Degrees | Accept | SAT | Male/Female | Intl | 5-Year Earn | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena,
CA
|
Pasadena, CA | — | 3% | — | — | — | — |
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| 2 |
Cornell University
Ithaca,
NY
|
Ithaca, NY | 29 | 7% | 66% / 34% | 7% | $129,630 | — |
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| 3 |
Stanford University
Stanford,
CA
|
Stanford, CA | — | 4% | — | — | — | — |
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| 4 |
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley,
CA
|
Berkeley, CA | 12 | 11% | 50% / 50% | 0% | — | — |
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| 5 |
University of Colorado Boulder
Boulder,
CO
|
Boulder, CO | 23 | 75% | 78% / 22% | 0% | $110,642 | — |
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| 6 |
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign,
IL
|
Champaign, IL | — | 43% | — | — | — | — |
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| 7 |
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor,
MI
|
Ann Arbor, MI | 15 | 15% | 87% / 13% | 20% | $122,340 | — |
|
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| 8 |
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta,
GA
|
Atlanta, GA | — | 15% | — | — | — | — |
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Too Nerdy for the Engineers, Too Practical for the Physicists
A bizarre academic purgatory. The pure physics majors think you're corporate sellouts, and the mechanical engineers think you're doing literal magic. High prestige, deep theory, and you'll spend four years explaining to your parents that no, you aren't fixing tractors, you're designing quantum sensors.
| # ▲ | University | Location | Degrees | Accept | SAT | Male/Female | Intl | 5-Year Earn | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Columbia University
New York,
NY
|
New York, NY | 11 | 4% | 82% / 18% | 9% | — | — |
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| 2 |
Harvard University
Cambridge,
MA
|
Cambridge, MA | — | 3% | — | — | — | — |
|
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| 3 |
Northwestern University
Evanston,
IL
|
Evanston, IL | — | 7% | — | — | — | — |
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| 4 |
Princeton University
Princeton,
NJ
|
Princeton, NJ | — | 4% | — | — | — | — |
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| 5 |
Rice University
Houston,
TX
|
Houston, TX | — | 8% | — | — | — | — |
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| 6 |
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla,
CA
|
La Jolla, CA | 2 | 24% | 100% / 0% | 0% | — | — |
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Simultaneously Engineers & Physicists Until a Recruiter Observes Them
You exist in a superposition of "theoretical visionary" and "wrench-turning pragmatist" until a Lockheed Martin recruiter opens the box and instantly hires you. These are hardcore, grind-it-out STEM factories that churn out terrifyingly competent problem solvers.
| # ▲ | University | Location | Degrees | Accept | SAT | Male/Female | Intl | 5-Year Earn | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison,
WI
|
Madison, WI | 3 | 43% | 100% / 0% | 0% | — | — |
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| 2 |
Ohio State University
Columbus,
OH
|
Columbus, OH | 18 | 53% | 89% / 11% | 6% | $108,696 | — |
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| 3 |
Colorado School of Mines
Golden,
CO
|
Golden, CO | 71 | 29% | 72% / 28% | 1% | $95,572 | — |
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| 4 |
Pennsylvania State University
University Park,
PA
|
University Park, PA | 25 | 55% | 72% / 28% | 16% | $102,160 | — |
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| 5 |
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy,
NY
|
Troy, NY | — | 52% | — | — | — | — |
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| 6 |
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Terre Haute,
IN
|
Terre Haute, IN | 14 | 55% | 71% / 29% | 0% | $106,535 | — |
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| 7 |
Stevens Institute of Technology
Hoboken,
NJ
|
Hoboken, NJ | 0 | 28% | — | — | — | — |
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| 8 |
Kettering University
Flint,
MI
|
Flint, MI | 5 | 68% | 80% / 20% | 20% | — | — |
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We Build Lightsabers, Inc
Programs with incredibly cool, specific niches like aerospace, optics, or tech-hub proximity. You might not have the brand-name gravity of Tier 1, but you're too busy building actual lasers, satellites, and next-gen hardware to care.
| # ▲ | University | Location | Degrees | Accept | SAT | Male/Female | Intl | 5-Year Earn | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland,
OH
|
Cleveland, OH | 4 | 35% | 75% / 25% | 25% | — | — |
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| 2 |
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach,
FL
|
Daytona Beach, FL | 25 | 55% | 68% / 32% | 4% | — | — |
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| 3 |
New York University
New York,
NY
|
New York, NY | 3 | 8% | 100% / 0% | 0% | — | — |
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| 4 |
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara,
CA
|
Santa Clara, CA | 3 | 26% | 100% / 0% | 33% | — | — |
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| 5 |
University of California, Irvine
Irvine,
CA
|
Irvine, CA | — | 21% | — | — | — | — |
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| 6 |
University of Rochester
Rochester,
NY
|
Rochester, NY | 40 | 33% | 65% / 35% | 28% | $100,661 | — |
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