Is University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign more selective than Georgetown for undergraduate admissions?

The biggest practical tradeoff in this comparison is that Georgetown is more uniformly selective across the undergraduate institution, while UIUC’s difficulty varies much more by college and major. In a broad, overall sense, Georgetown is usually viewed as more selective for undergraduate admission. UIUC is certainly competitive, but its selectivity is less consistent because some programs, especially in engineering and computer science, can be extraordinarily hard to enter while other majors are more accessible.

If you are asking about the schools as whole universities, Georgetown is the one most students and counselors would place in the more selective category. Its applicant pool is self-selecting, its admissions process is highly centralized, and the level of competition tends to be intense across the board rather than concentrated in a few standout programs.

UIUC is a little different. For many applicants, admission chances depend heavily on the specific major or college, and UIUC is well known for admitting by program in ways that can make one applicant’s odds look very different from another’s. That means it is possible for a UIUC applicant to face a tougher admissions bar than a Georgetown applicant if they are targeting one of UIUC’s most in-demand programs, but that is not the best general comparison.

So for a general college-listing purpose, treat Georgetown as more selective overall. Treat UIUC as a school with a wider range of selectivity, including some programs that are at least as hard, and sometimes harder, to get into than Georgetown.