Which is more selective, UT Austin or UC Berkeley?

UC Berkeley is usually regarded as more selective overall. Nationally and in admissions advising circles, Berkeley tends to be placed a notch above UT Austin in raw selectivity, especially for out-of-state applicants. Both are highly competitive public universities, but Berkeley is more often treated like a reach across a wider range of applicants.

That said, the comparison changes a bit depending on who you are. If you are a Texas resident, UT Austin can feel somewhat more predictable because the university has a strong in-state focus and Texas applicants may have admission pathways or context that make the process different from Berkeley’s. Even then, UT Austin can still be extremely hard for certain majors.

Berkeley is the school that usually comes up for students building a list with very selective national publics in mind, particularly in fields like engineering, computer science, business-adjacent areas, and other high-demand programs. Its applicant pool is broad, national, and international, and the overall perception is that getting in is tougher.

UT Austin is still absolutely in that top public-university tier, but its selectivity is often discussed more by major and residency status. Some UT programs, especially the most sought-after ones, can be brutally competitive and may rival or exceed Berkeley in difficulty for that specific major. As an overall school-level comparison, though, Berkeley is more commonly seen as the harder admit.