Is UC Berkeley or Dartmouth harder to get into?

For most applicants, Dartmouth is harder to get into overall, especially through Regular Decision. Its entering class is much smaller than UC Berkeley’s, while it attracts a national and international pool of applicants with very strong academics and extensive extracurricular distinction. Dartmouth also makes highly individualized choices in a private, holistic review process, so being academically qualified does not make admission predictable.

UC Berkeley is still exceptionally difficult, but its selectivity is less uniform because it is a large public university with distinct residency considerations and programs of study. California residents are evaluated within the UC system’s statewide mission, while out-of-state and international applicants face a different competitive context. Some Berkeley majors and colleges can be particularly difficult because demand is concentrated among applicants with closely matched academic preparation.

The application processes also reward different strengths. Berkeley is test-free and places substantial weight on coursework, grades in context, and the UC personal insight responses. Dartmouth requires standardized testing and has more room to weigh recommendations, intellectual character, community contributions, and the fit between an applicant and its residential liberal-arts environment.

Berkeley does not offer Early Decision. In practical terms, a student who is competitive for Berkeley should not assume that Dartmouth is a comparable admissions target; Dartmouth is more likely to be a reach, while Berkeley’s difficulty depends especially on residency and intended field of study.