Is Harvard more selective than the University of Michigan?

Yes. Harvard is significantly more selective than the University of Michigan overall, and the gap is large enough that they are not usually viewed as being in the same admissions tier. Harvard’s applicant pool is extraordinary from top to bottom, and even students with near-perfect grades, rigorous coursework, and standout activities are often denied. Michigan is also a highly respected and competitive university, but it admits a broader range of strong students, especially compared with Harvard’s extremely limited class size.

For a student trying to compare them in practical terms, Harvard is the kind of school where almost every applicant needs exceptional academics plus unusual distinction, impact, or personal qualities to have a realistic shot. Being “qualified” is nowhere near enough there. Michigan, by contrast, is more reachable for students with strong grades, challenging classes, and a solid overall profile, though it can still be quite tough, especially for out-of-state applicants and for certain programs.

They also attract somewhat different applicant experiences. A student applying to Harvard is usually entering one of the most compressed admissions processes in the country, where many applicants look outstanding on paper. A student applying to Michigan is still facing serious competition, but the university is enrolling a much larger undergraduate class and evaluating candidates in a different institutional context as a major public flagship.

So if your question is simply which school is harder to get into, the answer is Harvard by a wide margin. Michigan is selective and prestigious, but Harvard is in a far more extreme category of selectivity.