Is Northeastern harder to get into than Virginia Tech?

Yes. For most applicants, Northeastern is typically harder to get into than Virginia Tech. Northeastern draws a very large national and international applicant pool, is especially unpredictable because of the volume of applications it receives, and tends to feel more selective overall. Virginia Tech is still a serious admissions challenge, but it is usually less selective than Northeastern in broad terms.

Part of the difference is who each school attracts. Northeastern appeals heavily to students looking for an urban Boston campus, strong co-op options, and a private university with national reach. That combination brings in many applicants who also apply to other highly selective private schools, which raises the competition.

Virginia Tech is highly respected and can be quite competitive, especially for certain majors like engineering or computer science and for out-of-state applicants. But for a student whose profile is solidly in range for Virginia Tech, the process is often a bit more predictable than Northeastern’s. Northeastern is one of those schools where even strong applicants can find the result harder to call.

A useful way to think about it is this: if you are building a balanced list, Northeastern should usually be treated as the more selective and less predictable option, while Virginia Tech may land a tier below that overall, though major and residency can matter a lot. If you are applying to a high-demand program at Virginia Tech, the gap can feel smaller, but Northeastern is still the school most students would label harder to enter.