What Are Good Schools That Are Easy to Get Into?
What Are Good Schools That Are Easy to Get Into? Schools that are considered to have good academics and easy to get into include, but are not limited to, are Virginia Tech, Michigan State University, Texas A&M University, and Miami University.
Applying to college is a massive step in a person’s life, possibly the biggest step they’ve taken their entire life. As some of you may already know, it isn’t the wisest move to only apply to “prestigious” schools (if it is your goal to get into a prestigious university).
Many people will apply to schools that vary in selectiveness in order to increase their chances of getting into any college. A popular “system” that I’ve heard a lot of high schoolers use is the 3-3-3 system.
You apply to three reach schools (schools you have a low chance of getting into) such as Georgetown, Northwestern, and Notre Dame. Then, you apply to three target schools (you usually have a 50-50 chance with these schools), and three safety schools (schools that you are almost certain you will get into).
Even though the reach and target schools you apply to are probably considered more prestigious and have better opportunities, you still want to have safeties that will still provide you with good education and opportunities (just in case you don’t get into your reach or target schools).
Or maybe, you don’t want to go to any big-name schools like Stanford, but still want to receive a good education without the stress of a school that accepts less than 15% of its applicants.
Whatever your reason may be, I still think it is prudent that your safeties/schools that are easy to get into will still provide good academics.
The schools that I will be listing have an acceptance rate of ~70% – 80%. This means that you have a great chance of getting into these schools, but make sure your academic performance in high school is on the side of A’s & B’s.
I want to say that if a school you have in mind is not on the list, don’t worry. I can’t list all of the good schools that are easy to get into out of the thousands that exist.
So, if there is a school that you think is on the same level as any of the schools I list, then go for it. Some colleges may be average overall (in terms of academics) but will have an outstanding pre-med program. Apply to schools that you want to, and don’t let others dictate your choices.
A type of college that I won’t include on my list is a community college, but I do want to say a little bit about attending one. A community college almost guarantees admissions to most students who apply. However, I think that community college can be a great choice for multiple reasons:
- You can save a lot of money by attending community college for the first two years of your degree.
- It gives you a chance to improve your grades, so if you transfer elsewhere for your junior year, your grades will be higher.
- You live at home while attending community college, so that is another way you save money.
Community college helps you finish up the basic classes like math or whatever, which will transfer to a four-year institution.
I think community college can be a smart choice for those who want to save money and/or improve their grades so they can get into universities to complete their degrees.
Anyways, here’s what you came for:
- Loyola University Maryland (Baltimore, MD) – has an acceptance rate of about 79%. The class sizes are on the small side (meaning that there is more one-to-one with professors), and the university itself is pretty small with ~4,000 undergraduates. According to US News, they are ranked #6 in undergraduate teaching (for regional universities).
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg, VA) – is also, and more commonly known as, Virginia Tech. I was surprised to see this school was quite easy to get into with an acceptance rate barely reaching 70%. I had heard so much about this school and how good it was that I thought it would have an acceptance rate no greater than 40%. As you probably guessed by the name of the school, they are very well known for their engineering school that is ranked as one of the highest (#13), tying with Northwestern University.
- Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI) – is absolutely enormous, with enrollment reaching ~40,000 and an acceptance rate of about 72%. When I was looking for what MSU was known for, I found out that the school was founded in 1855 and has had six names so far. The sixth time is obviously “Michigan State University”, but the other five all include the word agriculture (e.g., Agricultural College of the State of Michigan and Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science). So, as one can reasonably conclude, they have a really good agricultural program.
- Texas A&M University (College Station, TX) – is another school that I thought was really hard to get into because of the great things I had heard. Its acceptance rate is lower than 70% at ~68%, but it’s close enough (hehe). Considering that the A&M stands for “Agriculture and Mechanical”, you can guess that this university offers stellar programs in those fields. Their engineering program is actually ranked #15, right behind Virginia Tech.
- Indiana University – Bloomington (Bloomington, IN) – has an acceptance rate of ~77%. I didn’t know about IU until very recently, but apparently, they rank #10 in business programs (e.g., Accounting, Finance, and Marketing), the same as Cornell University.
- Miami University (Oxford, OH) – for some reason, shares the same name as the city in Florida, even though it is located in Ohio. I’ve heard of this school before, and it is one of the best schools in the Midwest. Its undergraduate teaching is ranked at #8, and the students coming into the university are near the top of their class in terms of GPA. Oh, by the way, the acceptance rate is 75%.
- University of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN) – has an acceptance rate of ~78%. There is no particular program that it is known for (as far as I’ve researched); it just seems to be a good school overall. The students they accept are, on average, near or at the top of their class in high school, indicating that they want students who do well academically.
That wraps up my list of good schools that are pretty easy to get into. I’ve only listed seven universities, but I know there are probably many more. In fact, if there is a school that is on the same level as any of these in your state, I recommend you go to the one in your state.
Many of these schools are public, meaning that it would cost you a lot of money to attend these schools if you are out-of-state. Also, if you are an out-of-state applicant for a public school, then your chances of getting in are harder.
This is because they are public schools funded by the state, so the university has to make sure the majority of their students are in-state. But even then, most of these schools have the capacity for thousands of students, so don’t worry.
And always remember, go to the school that you want to go to!
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the College Reality Check.