Is the University of Oregon or Notre Dame harder to get into?

Notre Dame is much harder to get into than the University of Oregon. In overall selectivity, Notre Dame is one of the more competitive private universities in the country, while Oregon is a solid public flagship with a far more accessible admissions process. If you are comparing them just on admissions difficulty, they are not really in the same tier.

Notre Dame tends to attract a very large pool of applicants with strong grades, rigorous coursework, and national-level extracurricular profiles. It also uses a highly selective holistic review, so even very qualified students are not assured admission. A student applying there should expect the bar to be high across academics, writing, activities, and overall fit with the school’s values and community.

The University of Oregon is selective in the ordinary sense, but it is not nearly as difficult to enter. It is more realistic for a broader range of strong students, especially those with solid college-prep coursework and consistent grades. For many applicants, Oregon belongs on a balanced list, while Notre Dame is closer to a reach unless the student has an especially standout profile.

So if your question is simply which school is harder to get into, the answer is clearly Notre Dame. Oregon and Notre Dame may both be well-known universities, but in admissions competitiveness, Notre Dame is on a distinctly different level.