Is UVA or Boston University generally harder to get into?

There is no single answer for every applicant, but UVA is typically tougher for out-of-state students, while Boston University can be comparably selective or tougher for a Virginia resident. UVA is a public university with a strong enrollment priority for Virginia residents, so residency changes the admissions picture much more than it does at BU. BU evaluates applicants from a national and international pool without an in-state admissions advantage.

For an applicant who does not live in Virginia, UVA should be treated as a highly selective reach in much the same way as BU, and often as the more difficult of the two because its out-of-state spaces are limited relative to demand. For a Virginia applicant, UVA may be more attainable than BU because of its state-resident mission, although it is still far from an automatic or predictable admission.

Major can add some variation at both institutions, especially for programs with separate or capacity-limited admission processes, but residency is the biggest factor in this comparison.