---
title: The Top 20 Universities With the Most In-Demand Entry-Level Talent, According to Recruiters
description: Rankings from the 2018-2019 hiring season.
image: https://8139278.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/8139278/Imported_Blog_Media/94f7d6d3-original.jpe
---
# The Top 20 Universities With the Most In-Demand Entry-Level Talent, According to Recruiters
[ ](https://ripplematch.com/insights/author/kate-beckman)
Kate Beckman
Jul 22, 2019
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Which colleges and universities produce the most in-demand candidates? According to data from the 2018-2019 hiring season, candidates from Ivy Leagues and elite institutions (public and private) remain the most popular with university recruiters on our platform.
We looked at the composite data of the university recruiters that used our platform over the past year and found that students from certain universities were much more likely to to receive a first round interview than students from other universities. A first-round interview may occur after a recruiter is automatically "matched" with a qualified and interested candidate through RippleMatch's algorithms. After reviewing candidates' profiles, recruiters that use our platform are able to reject or accept matched candidates into their interview process. Candidates that were most often accepted into a company's interview process typically attend highly-ranked institutions such as Ivy Leagues or selective state schools.
There are great candidates at a wide range of schools (from [women's colleges](https://splash.ripplematch.com/the-top-womens-colleges-to-target-in-your-university-recruiting-strategy-b3ac211f) to [public universities](https://splash.ripplematch.com/the-best-public-university-in-every-state-d0379bd3) to [HBCUs](https://splash.ripplematch.com/the-top-historically-black-colleges-and-universities-hbcus-to-target-in-your-university-recruiting-strategy-652b5251)), but candidates from the following schools emerged as the most in-demand from the 2018-2019 hiring cycle. Read on for the full list:
**1. Harvard University – 70% of Harvard Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
Location: Cambridge, MA
Undergraduate Enrollment: 6,766
[Admissions Acceptance Rate](https://www.boston.com/news/education/2018/03/29/harvard-acceptance-rate-2018): 4.59%
[2019 US News Ranking](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/harvard-university-2155): #2
**2. Stanford University – 68% of Stanford Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
Location: Stanford, CA
Undergraduate Enrollment: 7,062
Admissions Acceptance Rate: 4% (Stanford University has [since announced](https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/08/30/stanford-university-will-no-longer-publicize-admissions-rate-in-effort-to-end-race-for-low-numbers/) it will no longer publicize its acceptance rate)
[2019 US News Ranking](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/stanford-university-1305): #7
**2. University of Virginia – 68% of UVA Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
Location: Charlottesville, VA
Undergraduate Enrollment: 16,655
Admissions Acceptance Rate: 29.8%
[2019 US News Ranking](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/uva-6968): #25
**4. University of Pennsylvania – 67% of UPenn Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Undergraduate Enrollment: 10,033
[Admissions Acceptance Rate](https://admissions.upenn.edu/admissions-and-financial-aid/what-penn-looks-for/incoming-class-profile): 8.4%
[2019 US News Ranking](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/university-of-pennsylvania-3378): #8
**5. Princeton University – 64% of Princeton Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
Location: Princeton, NJ
Undergraduate Enrollment: 5,394
[Admissions Acceptance Rate](https://admission.princeton.edu/how-apply/admission-statistics): 5.5%
[2019 US News Ranking](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/princeton-university-2627): #1
**5. Georgetown University – 64% of Georgetown Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
Location: Washington, D.C.
Undergraduate Enrollment: 7,463
[Admissions Acceptance Rate](https://www.thehoya.com/georgetown-sees-record-low-acceptance-rate-class-2022/): 14.5%
[2019 US News Ranking](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/stanford-university-1305): #22
**5. Washington University in St. Louis – 64% of Wash U Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
Location: St. Louis, MO
Undergraduate Enrollment: 7,675
[Admissions Acceptance Rate](https://admissions.wustl.edu/apply_site/Pages/Profile.aspx): 14%
[2019 US News Ranking](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/washington-university-in-st-louis-2520): #19
**5. Columbia University – 64% of Columbia University Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
Location: New York, NY
Undergraduate Enrollment: 6,162
[Admissions Acceptance Rate](https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/classprofile/2022): 5.5%
[2019 US News Ranking](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/columbia-university-2707): #3
**9. Northwestern University – 63% of Northwestern Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
Location: Evanston, IL
Undergraduate Enrollment: 8,278
[Admissions Acceptance Rate](https://dailynorthwestern.com/2018/03/24/campus/northwestern-acceptance-rate-falls-to-8-4-percent/): 8.4%
[2019 US News Ranking](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/northwestern-university-1739): #10
**10. Cornell University – 62% of Cornell Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
Location: Ithaca, NY
Undergraduate Enrollment: 14,907
[Admissions Acceptance Rate](https://admissions.cornell.edu/facts-about-cornell): 10%
[2019 US News Ranking](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/cornell-university-2711): #16
From Harvard University to Cornell University, these are the top 10 universities for entry-level talent in the 2018-2019 hiring season, according to our data collected from the recruiters that use our platform. The list below rounds out the top 20 universities for entry-level talent.
**11. University of Notre Dame – 61% of Notre Dame Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
**11. Duke University – 61% of Duke Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
**11. Binghamton University – 61% of Binghamton Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
**11. University of California, Los Angeles – 61% of UCLA Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
**15. New York University – 60% of NYU Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
**15. University of California, Berkeley – 60% of UC Berkeley Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
**17. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor – 58% of UMichigan Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
**17. Yale University – 58% of Yale Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
**19. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign – 57% of University of Illinois Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
**20. Massachusetts Institute of Technology – 56% of MIT Candidates Accepted by Recruiters**
*This post has been updated to reflect our data from the full 2018-2019 hiring season.*
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