Is the University of Michigan more selective than Carnegie Mellon University?

Yes, Carnegie Mellon is typically harder to get into overall than the University of Michigan, especially if you are comparing the universities as a whole. CMU is a smaller private university with a more constrained class size, and several of its colleges, especially computer science, engineering, and fine arts, are known for being exceptionally difficult admits. Michigan is also very selective, but because it is a much larger public university, overall admission works a bit differently and the applicant pool is spread across more seats.

For a student applying to highly specialized, portfolio-based, or tech-heavy programs, CMU often feels more selective in a very direct way. Its admissions process is also more school-specific, so the level of difficulty can vary sharply depending on whether you are applying to something like the School of Computer Science, Drama, or a less oversubscribed division. That makes CMU especially tough for applicants targeting its signature programs.

Michigan can still be extremely hard to get into, particularly for out-of-state applicants and for popular academic areas such as engineering, business, or computer science-related pathways. For some students, Michigan may not feel meaningfully easier at all, especially if they are applying from outside Michigan or to a competitive program. But in broad, overall terms, CMU is usually seen as the more selective of the two.

The main caveat is that selectivity at both schools depends a lot on residency, intended major, and which college within the university you are applying to.