Is William & Mary harder to get into than Virginia Tech?

The biggest practical difference is that William & Mary is the more selective school overall, while Virginia Tech is still selective but tends to admit a broader range of applicants, especially because it is much larger and offers more programs. William & Mary has a smaller undergraduate population, a more traditional liberal arts focus, and an admissions process that usually feels tighter because there are fewer seats. Virginia Tech draws a huge applicant pool too, but its scale and program mix make it somewhat more accessible in a general comparison.

So if you are asking strictly which is harder to get into, the answer is William & Mary. That is the school most students would view as the tougher admit across the board. In-state applicants may find both very competitive, but William & Mary is still usually the more difficult one to crack.

Part of the confusion comes from major-specific admissions and applicant profile differences. At Virginia Tech, some programs can be especially competitive, and strong interest in engineering, business, or science can shape how hard admission feels. William & Mary, by contrast, is less about a specific preprofessional niche and more about a high-achieving academic profile in a smaller, more selective setting.

For building your list, it makes sense to treat William & Mary as the more reach-leaning option between the two, with Virginia Tech still deserving respect as a competitive school rather than a safety for most applicants.