What are your chances of acceptance?

Your chance of acceptance
Duke University
Duke University
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 UCLA
UCLA
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Your chancing factors
Unweighted GPA: 3.7
1.0
4.0
SAT: 720 math
200
800
| 800 verbal
200
800

Extracurriculars

Low accuracy (4 of 18 factors)

Every School That Requires the CSS Profile

What’s Covered:

 

Roughly 250 schools use the College Scholarship Service (CSS) Profile to help them determine their financial aid offers to accepted students. Among these are Ivy League schools, Little Ivies, and Public Ivies, along with many other top colleges. If you plan on applying to some of the best schools in the nation, you’ll want to learn what the CSS Profile is and why schools use it.

 

What Is the CSS Profile?

 

The CSS Profile is a financial aid form administered by the College Board—the same organization that administers the SAT and AP exams—that helps schools determine your financial need and award you with a financial aid package that can make college both affordable and accessible.

 

The CSS Profile asks for similar information as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), including tax returns, W-2s, bank statements, and other income records. Like the FAFSA, it will calculate your Student Aid Index (SAI), or, more simply, how much aid you’re eligible to receive.

 

Unlike the FAFSA, you have to pay to send the CSS profile to schools, though you may qualify for a fee waiver* if you received one for the SAT. Otherwise, sending the CSS profile costs $25 for the first school and $16 for each additional one.

 

*Fee waivers are available to students from families with adjusted gross incomes of up to $100,000 and to those who are orphans or wards of the court and under the age of 24.

 

How Do Schools Use the CSS Profile?

 

Given that the CSS Profile and the FAFSA ask for a lot of the same information, and every school requires that you complete and submit the FAFSA, the CSS Profile might seem redundant. This couldn’t be further from the truth. While the FAFSA awards federal aid, the CSS Profile is used by schools to award institution-based aid.

 

Federal financial aid often won’t cover the cost of college alone, which is why receiving institutional aid is so important. For example, the maximum amount of a Pell Grant is $7,395 for the 2024-25 award year, but many schools have tuition that is many multiples more than that amount. Institutional aid can help you cover the difference, and lessen the financial burden for you and your family.

 

Compared to the FAFSA, the CSS Profile provides a more thorough picture of your household income, which allows colleges to determine which types of institutional aid they can award in addition to any federal aid you might have received. There are even a few scholarship programs that use the CSS Profile to verify your eligibility for their awards.

 

Colleges use both forms to create a complete picture of your financial situation and decide how best to supplement the federal aid you’re already receiving. Schools that accept the CSS Profile will award institutional need-based aid in the form of grants or scholarships. While these grants and scholarships range in value depending on the school, they all lessen your potential loan burden—and who can argue with less debt?

 

A Complete List of Schools that Use the CSS Profile

 

To get you started, here’s a list of schools that use the CSS Profile to award financial aid for only domestic applicants.

 

School

Location

Acceptance Rate

American University

Washington D.C.

47%

Arizona State University (ASU)

Tempe, AZ 

88%

Arkansas State University

Jonesboro, AR

63%

Bard College 

Annandale-On-Hudson, NY

60%

Bennington College  

Bennington, VT 

67%

Bentley University 

Waltham, MA 

68%

Boston College (BC)

Chestnut Hill, MA

15%

Boston University (BU)

Boston, MA 

11%

Bucknell University  

Lewisburg, PA

32%

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

14%

College of William and Mary

Williamsburg, VA 

37%

Columbia University

New York, NY 

4%

Denison University

Granville, OH 

28%

DePauw University

Greencastle, IN

65%

Duke University** 

Durham, NC 

6%

Elon University

Elon, NC 

78%

Emerson College

Boston, MA

43%

Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) 

Atlanta, GA

16%

Gettysburg College

Gettysburg, PA

56%

Great Basin College

Elko, NV 

Open enrollment

Hillsdale College

Hillsdale, MI 

21% 

John A. Logan College

Carterville, IL

Open enrollment

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania 

Kutztown, PA 

97%

Lawrence University

Appleton, WI

75%

Northeastern University

Boston, MA 

6%

Northern Arizona University

Flagstaff, AZ

78%

Occidental College

Los Angeles, CA

40%

Patrick Henry Community College

Martinsville, VA

Open enrollment

Principia College

Elsah, IL 

84%

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

Troy, NY 

58%

Roger Williams University

Bristol, RI

91%

Rosemont College

Rosemont, PA

80%

Sacred Heart University

Fairfield, CT

66%

Saint Louis University (SLU)

Saint Louis, MO

70%

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA 

47%

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Wake Forest, NC

90%

Southern Methodist University (SMU)

Dallas, TX

61%

Syracuse University

Syracuse, NY 

42%

Trinity Washington University

Washington D.C.

97%

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL 

6%

University of Denver

Denver, CO 

71%

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI

18%

University of New Haven

West Haven, CT 

94%

University of North Carolina (UNC)

Chapel Hill, NC

20%

University of Southern California (USC)

Los Angeles, CA

10%

University of Virginia (UVA)

Charlottesville, VA

19%

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC

21%

 

*School of Arts

**School of Nursing

 

Now, here are the schools that use the CSS Profile for both domestic and international applicants.

 

Adrian College 

Adrian, MI

76%

Amherst College

Amherst, MA

10%

Babson College 

Wellesley, MA

25% 

Bard College at Simons Rock  

Great Barrington, MA

80%

Barnard College  

New York, NY 

8%

Bates College 

Lewiston, ME 

13%

Baylor University 

Waco, TX

51%

Beloit College 

Beloit, WI

67%

Berklee College of Music  

Boston, MA 

55%

Bowdoin College 

Brunswick, ME

8%

Boyce College 

Louisville, Kentucky

N/A

Brandeis University 

Waltham, MA

35%

Brown University 

Providence, RI

6%

Bryn Mawr College 

Bryn Mawr, PA

31%

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Pasadena, CA

4%

Carleton College

Northfield, MN

22%

Case Western Reserve University  

Cleveland, OH

29%

Christendom College

Front Royal, Virginia

85%

Claremont McKenna College

Claremont, CA

11%

Clark University

Worcester, MA

48%

Cleveland Institute of Music

Cleveland, OH

33%

Colby College

Waterville, ME

8%

Colgate University

Hamilton, NY 

12%

College of the Holy Cross (Holy Cross)

Worcester, MA 

21%

College of Wooster

Wooster, OH

61%

Colorado College

Colorado Springs, CO

20%

Columbia University

New York, NY 

4%

Connecticut College  

New London, CT

41%

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY 

8%

Curtis Institute of Music

Philadelphia, PA

5%

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH

6%

Davidson College

Davidson, NC

14%

Dickinson College

Carlisle, PA 

48%

Drexel University

Philadelphia, PA

83%

Duke University

Durham, NC

6%

Duquesne University

Pittsburgh, PA

84%

Emory University

Atlanta, GA

11%

Fairfield University

Fairfield, CT 

56%

Fordham University

Bronx, NY 

56%

Franklin and Marshall College

Lancaster, PA

32%

Furman University

Greenville, SC

71%

George Washington University (GW)

Washington D.C.

44%

Georgetown University

Washington D.C.

13%

Grinnell College

Grinnell, IA 

11%

Grove City College

Grove City, PA

73%

Gustavus Adolphus College

Saint Peter, MN

73%

Hamilton College

Clinton, NY 

12%

Hampshire College

Amherst, MA

75%

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 

4%

Harvey Mudd College

Claremont, CA

13%

Haverford College

Haverford, PA

13%

Hilbert College

Hamburg, NY

93%

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Geneva, NY 

57%

Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) 

Chicago, IL

66%

Illinois Wesleyan University

Bloomington, IL 

45%

Jewish Theological Seminary of America

New York, NY 

50%

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

8%

The Juilliard School

New York, NY 

7%

Kenyon College

Gambier, OH 

31%

Lafayette College

Easton, PA 

31%

Lake Forest College

Lake Forest, IL

59% 

Lehigh University

Bethlehem, PA

29%

Loyola University Maryland

Baltimore, MD

84%

Macalester College

Saint Paul, MN

28%

Manhattan School of Music

New York, NY 

49%

Marist College

Poughkeepsie, NY 

60%

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Cambridge, MA

5%

Middlebury College

Middlebury, VT 

10%

Minerva University

San Francisco, CA

1%

Mount Holyoke College

South Hadley, MA

38%

Nevada State University

Henderson, NV

79%

New Saint Andrews College

Moscow, ID 

86% 

New York University (NYU)

New York, NY 

8%

NewU University

Washington D.C.

N/A

Northland College

Ashland, WI

58%

Northwestern College

Orange City, IA 

83%

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL 

7%

Norwich University

Northfield, VT 

87%

Oberlin College

Oberlin, OH 

34%

Olivet College

Olivet, MI

89%

Pitzer College

Claremont, CA 

17%

Pomona College

Claremont, CA

7%

Providence College

Providence, RI

53%

Reed College

Portland, OR

27%

Rhodes College

Memphis, TN

57%

Rice University

Houston, TX 

9%

Ringling College of Art and Design

Sarasota, FL 

69%

Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)

Rochester, NY 

71%

Samford University

Birmingham, AL 

84%

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

San Francisco, CA

46%

Scripps College

Claremont, CA 

34%

Sewanee: The University of the South

Sewanee, TN

60%

Siena College

Loudonville, NY 

83%

Skidmore College

Saratoga Springs, NY 

23%

Smith College

Northampton, MA

20%

Springfield College

Springfield, MA

77%

St. Anselm College

Manchester, NH

78%

St. Edward’s University

Austin, TX

92%

St. John’s College

Annapolis, MD

53%

St. Johns College 

Santa Fe, NM

63%

St. Olaf College

Northfield, MN

47%

St. Tikhons Orthodox Theological Seminar

South Canaan, PA

N/A

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

4%

Stetson University

DeLand, FL

92%

Stevens Institute Technology

Hoboken, NJ

43%

Swarthmore College

Swarthmore, PA

7%

Texas Christian University (TCU)

Fort Worth, TX

43%

Thomas Aquinas College 

Santa Paula, CA & Northfield, MA 

83%

Thomas College

Waterville, ME

N/A

Trevecca Nazarene University

Nashville, TN 

78%

Trinity College

Hartford, CT 

36%

Trinity University

San Antonio, TX

28%

Tufts University

Medford, MA

10%

Tulane University

New Orleans, LA

15%

Union College 

Schenectady, NY 

44%

University of Miami

Coral Gables, FL 

19%

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN 

12%

University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)

Philadelphia, PA

6%

University of Richmond

Richmond, VA 

23%

University of Rochester

Rochester, NY 

36%

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN 

6%

Vassar College

Poughkeepsie, NY 

18%

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

23%

Wartburg College

Waverly, IA

83%

Washington and Lee University

Lexington, VA

17%

Washington University (WashU)

Saint Louis, MO 

11%

Wellesley College

Wellesley, MA

14%

Wesleyan University

Middletown, CT

17%

Westminster University

Salt Lake City, UT 

76%

Whitman College

Walla Walla, WA

50%

Whitworth University

Spokane, WA

91%

William Jewell College

Liberty, MS

47%

Williams College

Williamstown, MA

10%

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)

Worcester, MA 

58%

Wyoming Catholic College

Lander, WY 

97%

Yale University 

New Haven, CT 

5%

 

*Schools of Business, Engineering, Journalism, and General Studies

 

How to Calculate Your Odds of Acceptance

 

Nearly all the schools listed above are at least moderately selective, and many of them are among the most challenging institutions in the country to gain admission to. Before you go to the trouble of filling out the CSS Profile, it’s reasonable to want to know how your odds look.

 

To answer that question, check out CollegeVine’s free chancing engine. It takes into account just about every quantifiable element of your application—including grades, course rigor, SAT/ACT scores (if you have them), and extracurriculars—to give you personalized odds of acceptance at nearly 1,600 schools across the country, as well as suggestions for how to boost your chances of acceptance.


Short Bio
A graduate of Northeastern University with a degree in English, Tim Peck currently lives in Concord, New Hampshire, where he balances a freelance writing career with the needs of his two Australian Shepherds to play outside.