Is UT Dallas harder to get into than the University of Washington?

Yes. For most applicants, the University of Washington is harder to get into than UT Dallas. UW draws a very large applicant pool, is especially competitive for out-of-state students, and some of its most popular majors have an additional layer of selectivity beyond general admission. UT Dallas is selective too, but in broad terms it is more accessible than UW.

A big reason is applicant demand. UW, especially the Seattle campus, gets national attention and attracts many students who are aiming for strong public research universities. If you are applying from outside Washington, the bar is usually higher, and interest in majors like computer science, engineering, and business can make admission feel even tougher.

UT Dallas tends to be more predictable, particularly for strong academic applicants. It puts a lot of weight on grades, course rigor, and academic profile, and it is known for offering merit scholarships that attract high-achieving students. But even with that, it is not usually viewed as as difficult to enter overall as UW.

The major you want matters a lot. At UW, some direct-admit pathways are significantly more competitive than admission to the university as a whole. At UT Dallas, certain programs are also stronger and more selective than others, but the gap is usually less dramatic in how people talk about overall admission difficulty.

So if the question is simply which school is generally harder to get into, UW is the tougher admit in most cases, especially for out-of-state applicants and students targeting high-demand majors.