Colleges with Admit Rates of 60-100%: Schools You’ve Liked and Why (NO REPLIES)

College Search & Lists
112

I am in Australia and, of course, can give information about our schools. But I assume people here are mostly interested in the USA.

There was once a popular type of school called an upper-division school. Now they are rare. The idea was that you completed your lower division courses elsewhere and your upper division courses at the upper division school. No SAT, letters of recommendation, essays, etc. - complete the number of subjects they consider the minimum to be considered upper division - you are in.

The one I know is Central-Texas A&M.

https://www.tamuct.edu/

Have 30 college credits, and you are in. That’s it, that’s all. It can be AP credit, IB credit, dual credit from HS, community college credit, edit etc. IB Math HL is interesting - 15 credits in one subject - wow (although that seems before they changed the IB Mathematics HL curriculum - it may be slightly different now - you may only get 12).

Edited by moderator to comply with forum rules.

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113

University of Arizona (https://www.arizona.edu)
According to SCOIR as of 3/30/2026, it has an 86% acceptance rate. Reasons why our family likes it:

  • it’s affordable
  • they awarded both of my kids merit scholarships. D26 got about 45% off of tuition.
  • like the vibe on campus
  • Honors Village dorm is awesome. Love the room layouts.
  • has a wide range of majors + has the 2 specific majors that D26 really really wanted
  • has a pretty generous AP/IB/CLEP/Dual Enrollment policy, so if you’re looking to save money on tuition, that’s a nice plus.
  • is far enough away from home for kid to feel like she’s getting away but it isn’t too far away to make it feel overwhelming
  • weather. Once in a blue moon, it’ll snow in the middle of Tucson, but it’s very rare.
  • kid said it ‘felt like home’
  • offers clubs in things my kid is interested in both socially & career-wise
  • has a good sized community of super nerdy kids like my kid
  • the vibe in Tucson is…relaxed, accepting, ‘come as you are,’ and ‘be your own person.’
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114

One option that is worth mentioning is the University of Colorado at Boulder. This is nearly unbelievable, but they offer a Masters that requires nothing but passing 3 subjects from the degree and you are admitted. No Bachelors or even HS required.

They have Masters Computer Science, Data Science and AI. They also have optional certificates along the way. If you have a well-prepared student, for example, who has done a Data Science or AI bootcamp and calculus and stats in HS, then it IMHO is worth considering.

There are several such bootcamps available in the USA and elsewhere (easily found via Google search), but being in Australia, I know UNSW has one that, on the application, allows enrollment even for HS students. If you want to go to a prestigious school, you can do the London School of Economics Data Analytics Career Accelerator. Knowledge of Excel and being 18+ is all that is needed for that.

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