Is Georgetown generally harder to get into than Brandeis for undergraduate admissions?

The biggest practical tradeoff is that Georgetown draws from a broader national and international applicant pool and is typically treated as a higher-reach school, while Brandeis is selective but usually a bit more accessible in overall admissions difficulty. Georgetown’s name recognition, location in Washington, DC, and especially strong interest in politics, international relations, government, and pre-law tend to drive very heavy demand. Brandeis is well respected and academically serious, but in most students’ college-list planning it is not usually placed in quite the same admissions tier as Georgetown.

So yes, Georgetown is generally harder to get into than Brandeis for undergraduate admission. That is the common perception among applicants, counselors, and admissions observers, and it lines up with how students usually build balanced lists.

Part of that comes from applicant behavior. Georgetown attracts a very large number of high-achieving students who also apply to other highly selective private universities, and its admissions process has some distinctive features, including a required alumni interview and school-specific application structure, that reinforce its selective positioning. Brandeis also attracts strong students, especially those interested in research, the liberal arts, and a medium-sized university environment near Boston, but it is more often considered a realistic target or lower-reach depending on the student.

For planning purposes, it makes sense to treat Georgetown as the tougher admit between the two.