How much more selective is Boston College than Rutgers for college admissions?

Boston College is meaningfully more selective than Rutgers overall, so your instinct is right: for most applicants, BC belongs a tier higher in admissions difficulty. BC attracts a more nationally concentrated applicant pool, places heavier emphasis on very strong academics across a challenging high school schedule, and is usually tougher even for solid students who would be competitive at Rutgers. Rutgers can still be selective, especially at certain schools and campuses, but it is typically more accessible than BC.

Boston College tends to fit the student whose application is strong across the board and polished in every area. That means excellent grades in rigorous classes, a transcript with few weak spots, and a profile that can hold up in a highly competitive private-university pool. BC also pays close attention to the full academic record and overall presentation, so many students who are comfortably in range for large public universities still see BC as a reach.

Rutgers is a different kind of admissions landscape because selectivity varies a lot by campus and by school within the university. A student applying to Rutgers-New Brunswick, especially to more in-demand programs, may still face real competition, but Rutgers as a whole is not as hard to enter as Boston College.

In practice, many students should think of Boston College as a reach unless their academics are truly near the top of their high school context. Rutgers is more often a target, and sometimes a likely, depending on residency, program, and academic profile. The biggest exception is that certain Rutgers programs can be selective enough that they stop feeling like an easy option, even though BC remains the harder admit overall.