Indonesia is home to 85 state universities, where high school graduates nationwide must compete for a place through a simultaneously held exam.

Around 860,000 students took the Joint Entrance Test for State Universities (SBMPTN) this week. 

According to data by the central selection committee, here are the top five most sought-after universities, as compiled by kompas.com. 

1. University of Indonesia, with 52,591 applicants

2. Gadjah Mada University, with 46,095 applicants

3. Padjadjaran University, with 44,138 applicants 

4. Brawijaya University, with 36,468 applicants 

5. Hasanuddin University, with 35,253 applicants

Read also: Students use Android phones for university entrance test

Kompas.com also compiled the top five cities in the country according to number of applicants that took the entrance exam.

1. Jakarta, with 74,927 participants

2. Medan, with 63,357 participants

3. Surabaya, with 60,727 participants

4. Bandung, with 56,069 participants 

5. Makassar, with 51,800 participants 

There are three types of exams for university applicants to choose from, namely the science and technology exam, social studies and humanities exam and a combined exam of both study areas. 

The social studies and humanities exam had the highest number of participants, with over 359,000 applicants taking the exam. The science and technology exam had 341,000 participants and more than 159,000 people took the combined exam. (liz/kes)