Is William & Mary or Dartmouth harder to get into?

The biggest practical tradeoff is that Dartmouth sits in the small, highly selective Ivy category, while William & Mary is selective but operates in a broader public-university admissions context. In plain terms, Dartmouth is harder to get into overall. It draws an exceptionally deep national and international applicant pool, and its admissions bar is more demanding across academics, extracurricular distinction, and overall profile.

William & Mary is still a serious reach for many students, especially for out-of-state applicants, but it is not in the same selectivity tier as Dartmouth. As a public university in Virginia, it also has a different mission and enrollment structure, including a stronger in-state role that shapes admissions in ways Dartmouth does not have.

For building your college list, it makes sense to treat Dartmouth as a very high-reach school regardless of how strong your profile is. William & Mary can also be a reach or at least a highly selective target depending on residency and academic strength, but it is typically more attainable than Dartmouth for a well-qualified applicant.

So if the question is simply which one is harder to get into, the answer is Dartmouth by a clear margin. William & Mary is selective and well respected, but Dartmouth is in a more difficult admissions category overall.