Is the University of Washington harder to get into than the University of Rochester for undergraduate admissions?

Yes. For undergraduate admissions overall, the University of Washington is typically harder to get into, especially for out-of-state applicants and for high-demand majors. UW receives a very large applicant pool, and admission pressure is especially intense in areas like computer science, engineering, and business because getting into the university does not always mean getting into the program you want.

One important difference is how selectivity works inside the school. At Rochester, admission is centered more on entry to the university as a whole, and while some programs are stronger or more popular than others, applicants are usually not dealing with the same level of major-specific bottlenecks that make UW feel tougher in practice. That matters a lot if you already know what you want to study.

Residency also changes the picture. UW gives a clear advantage to Washington state residents, so for an in-state applicant the gap may feel smaller, while for an out-of-state student UW often becomes much harder. Rochester does not have that same public flagship in-state versus out-of-state dynamic.

Another reason people get mixed answers online is that Rochester and UW attract somewhat different applicant pools and have different admissions contexts. Rochester is a private research university with a more contained applicant base, while UW is a major public flagship with broad name recognition and enormous demand, which tends to make admission more difficult overall.