Is UC Davis harder to get into than MIT?

No. MIT is much harder to get into than UC Davis in overall admissions selectivity. MIT has one of the most competitive applicant pools in the country, with extremely high academic expectations and a process that looks for unusual depth in math, science, research, problem-solving, or other standout achievements. UC Davis is selective too, but it operates on a much larger public-university admissions model and admits a broader range of strong students.

For a student trying to compare difficulty, MIT is the school where even near-perfect grades and top scores do not make admission likely on their own. The students who do well there often show exceptional distinction, not just strong performance. That can mean advanced STEM work, major initiative, national-level accomplishment, or a very clear intellectual profile.

UC Davis fits a different kind of applicant. It is still a respected and competitive UC campus, especially for certain majors like engineering, computer science, biological sciences, and animal science, but the bar is not remotely the same as MIT’s. A student with a strong academic record that aligns well with UC expectations can be a realistic applicant for Davis even if MIT would still be a major reach.

So if your question is simply which school is harder to get into in general, the answer is MIT by a wide margin. The only caveat is that some UC Davis majors can be more competitive than others, while MIT is intensely selective across the board.