Is Notre Dame or Colgate more difficult to get into?

Notre Dame is generally more difficult to get into than Colgate for a similarly qualified applicant. Both schools are highly selective, but Notre Dame attracts a broader national and international applicant pool, has especially strong demand from applicants seeking its combination of academics, major-school athletics, alumni network, and Catholic identity, and has limited space in each entering class.

That does not make Colgate an easy alternative. Colgate is a small, selective liberal arts university, so it has relatively few seats and can be particularly hard to predict for applicants whose academic profile is near its typical admitted range. Its admissions office also builds a balanced class across academic interests, geography, backgrounds, and campus priorities, which means strong grades alone do not create a dependable outcome.

The practical distinction is that Notre Dame tends to be the more selective reach in a head-to-head comparison, while Colgate remains a serious reach or high target depending on the student’s transcript, course rigor, testing if submitted, activities, and writing. A student competitive for Notre Dame should not assume admission to Colgate, especially because Colgate’s smaller class size can make individual admissions decisions less predictable.

The two applications should receive the same level of care, particularly the essays, because each school is looking for evidence of fit beyond academic preparation.