Is Boston College or Brown harder to get into for college admissions?

Brown is generally considered harder to get into than Boston College. Brown is an Ivy League university with a more selective overall applicant pool, and it draws a very high volume of applicants with top grades, rigorous coursework, and strong extracurricular profiles. Boston College is also selective and well respected, but in overall admissions difficulty, Brown sits at a more competitive level.

For a student building a balanced college list, Brown usually belongs in the highest-reach category for almost everyone, including very strong applicants. Its admissions process tends to reward not just academic excellence but also a distinctive intellectual voice, clear curiosity, and a strong personal fit with Brown’s open curriculum and undergraduate focus.

Boston College fits a somewhat different applicant. It still expects excellent academics and thoughtful applications, especially for more competitive programs, but it is not typically viewed in the same admissions tier as Brown. A student who is competitive for Boston College is not automatically competitive for Brown, even with similar grades and activities, because Brown’s bar is usually higher across the board.

Brown is the tougher admit overall, while Boston College remains selective enough that it should still be treated as a reach or at least a very ambitious target for many applicants.