Is Georgetown harder to get into than UVA for undergraduate admissions?

Yes, for most applicants Georgetown is typically harder to get into than UVA overall, especially if you are not a Virginia resident. Georgetown has a smaller undergraduate population, a more nationally and internationally concentrated applicant pool, and a distinctly selective application process that includes multiple supplemental essays and an interview in many cases. UVA is also very selective, but its admissions landscape changes a lot depending on whether you are in-state or out-of-state.

For a student comparing pure admissions difficulty, Georgetown tends to feel tougher because almost everyone applying knows it is reaching for a highly selective private university with a strong reputation in politics, international relations, business, and the humanities. The applicant pool is very self-selecting, and Georgetown often attracts students with especially polished academic records and clear intellectual interests.

UVA can be a different story depending on where you live. For Virginia residents, admission is still challenging, but the school is a public flagship with a mission to serve in-state students, so the odds are not the same as they are for out-of-state applicants. For out-of-state students, UVA becomes much more difficult and can feel closer to Georgetown in competitiveness, though Georgetown is still often viewed as the tougher admit overall.

In practical terms, the student who should treat Georgetown as the steeper admissions climb is someone applying from a strong national applicant pool and aiming at elite private universities. The student who should be more cautious about UVA is an out-of-state applicant assuming it is meaningfully easier just because it is a public school. That assumption is often wrong.