How do University of Washington and Boston University compare in admissions difficulty?

The biggest practical tradeoff is that Boston University is broadly selective across its applicant pool, while the University of Washington’s difficulty changes a lot depending on whether you are in-state, out-of-state, and especially whether you are applying to a capacity-constrained major. In plain terms, BU is often perceived as the tougher overall admit for many applicants, but UW can be just as hard, or harder, for certain programs. At UW, majors like computer science, engineering, and business can be much more competitive than admission to the university itself.

That difference matters because UW has a two-layer challenge for many students: getting into the university and then getting into your intended major, sometimes through direct admission. BU is also selective, but its admissions process is usually understood more as one overall university-level decision rather than the same kind of major-by-major bottleneck that defines UW for many applicants.

For an in-state Washington student applying to a less restricted area, UW may feel more accessible than BU. For an out-of-state student aiming at a high-demand UW major, the admissions bar can rise quickly, and the practical difficulty may exceed what people assume from the university’s overall reputation.

Boston University is usually regarded as more difficult to get into in the broad, university-wide sense. But if your real question is about a specific path like UW computer science, engineering, or another capacity-limited major, UW can absolutely be the harder admit in practice.