How does Notre Dame admissions difficulty compare to UVA for undergraduate applicants?

For most applicants, both Notre Dame and UVA should be treated as reaches, but Notre Dame is often perceived as slightly tougher overall in a national private-school applicant pool, while UVA can be especially difficult for students applying from out of state. In-state Virginia applicants usually have a more favorable path at UVA than comparable out-of-state students do. Notre Dame, by contrast, reviews everyone in one national pool, so there is no in-state advantage built into the process.

For a strong student applying from Virginia, UVA may feel more attainable than Notre Dame because residency matters a lot there. For a strong student applying from outside Virginia, UVA can be every bit as hard as Notre Dame, and sometimes harder in practical terms because UVA reserves more space for Virginia residents. That residency split is one of the biggest reasons people talk about UVA differently depending on where the applicant lives.

Notre Dame tends to attract a self-selecting applicant pool with very strong academics, substantial extracurricular involvement, and often a clear mission-driven or community-oriented profile. Applicants who are drawn to its Catholic identity, residential culture, and strong alumni network often apply with a fairly intentional fit, which can make the pool feel especially competitive even among highly qualified students.

UVA is also highly selective, but the way students talk about its difficulty is more tied to geography. A Virginia student with a strong transcript and rigorous courses may see UVA as a realistic high reach or low reach depending on the rest of the profile. An out-of-state applicant should usually think of UVA much more like a major national reach.

So if you want the simplest comparison: Notre Dame is often the tougher admit in an overall national sense, but UVA can be just as hard or harder for out-of-state applicants. For a typical strong student, I would not view either as close to a safety or likely school.