Is Cornell harder to get into than the University of Washington?

Yes. Cornell is much more selective overall than the University of Washington for most applicants. Cornell is an Ivy League school with a highly competitive applicant pool across its colleges, while UW admits a larger share of applicants overall and serves a broader in-state public mission. In practical terms, most students should treat Cornell as a reach, whereas UW can range from match to reach depending on residency and major.

Cornell fits the applicant who is comparing highly selective private universities and is prepared for a process where top grades, rigorous coursework, and strong extracurriculars still do not make admission likely. It draws applicants from across the country and the world, and its admissions bar is high across the board, even though some Cornell colleges are a bit more selective than others.

UW makes more sense as a comparison for students looking at strong public research universities, especially those who may benefit from in-state preference. For Washington residents, admission to the university as a whole is often more accessible than Cornell, though popular majors can be much more competitive once you look beyond general admission. For out-of-state students, UW can still be selective, but it is not typically viewed in the same admissions tier as Cornell overall.

If your goal is simply to classify them on a college list, Cornell belongs in the more selective category. UW is still competitive, especially for certain majors like computer science or engineering, but as a university overall it is not as hard to get into as Cornell.