Is the University of Indiana or the University of Washington harder to get into?

The University of Washington is typically harder to get into overall than Indiana University Bloomington. UW draws a very large national and international applicant pool, has a more selective admissions reputation, and can be especially tough for students applying from outside Washington state. Indiana Bloomington is still a well-known flagship public university, but for a typical applicant, it is usually less difficult to access than UW.

For a student building a balanced college list, UW belongs in the more selective category. It tends to attract applicants with very strong academics, and its location in Seattle plus its academic reputation make it highly popular. Even when you are not focusing on a specific major, UW admissions are often seen as more competitive simply because so many strong students apply.

Indiana Bloomington fits a somewhat different profile. It is a respected Big Ten school with plenty of strong programs, but its overall admissions process is usually more approachable. For many applicants, IU works better as a target or possible likely school than UW would, depending on the rest of the profile.

One thing that causes conflicting opinions online is that public universities can look very different for in-state versus out-of-state students. That matters especially at Washington, where residency can affect how competitive admission feels. But if the question is just which school is more selective overall for the average applicant, University of Washington is the one most people would view as harder to get into.