Is Boston University harder to get into than Georgetown for college admissions?

Yes. Georgetown is generally considered harder to get into than Boston University, both in overall selectivity and in how applicants are evaluated. In most college advising contexts, Georgetown sits a tier above BU for admissions difficulty, and students usually treat it as the bigger reach of the two. That is true even though both schools attract large numbers of strong applicants.

One major reason is the applicant pool Georgetown draws and the way it positions itself academically. Georgetown has a smaller undergraduate population, a more traditional highly selective admissions reputation, and especially strong pull in areas like politics, international relations, government, and pre-law. Its School of Foreign Service and political location in Washington, DC make it a destination school for many top applicants with very polished academic and extracurricular profiles.

Another difference is the admissions process itself. Georgetown has long required more from applicants than many peer schools, including school-specific application components and a more structured process, which tends to attract students who are deliberately targeting Georgetown rather than casually adding it to a list.

A practical way to think about it is that BU can still be unpredictable and should not be treated as easy, but Georgetown is the one more students would label the steeper admissions climb.