The informal group of elite New England liberal arts colleges known as the "Little Ivies"—which includes institutions like Amherst College, Williams College, Swarthmore College, and Bowdoin College—maintains hyper-competitive admissions standards comparable to the Ivy League. Among them, Amherst College and Williams College consistently record the lowest acceptance rates, often dropping into the single digits, making them exceptionally difficult schools to gain admission to due to their tiny incoming class sizes and massive applicant pools.