Is Chapman or UC Irvine harder to get into?

The biggest practical tradeoff is that UC Irvine is a large public research university with more demand and a more numbers-driven admissions process, while Chapman is a private university that can sometimes be a bit more flexible depending on the program and the rest of your application. In most broad, overall terms, UC Irvine is harder to get into than Chapman. That is especially true because UCI draws a very large applicant pool, is part of the UC system, and is widely seen as the more selective school overall.

That said, the answer can shift a little by major. At UC Irvine, popular programs like engineering, computer science, business economics, and nursing can be especially difficult. Chapman also has programs that are tougher than the university overall, especially film and screen-related programs through Dodge College, along with some selective health-related tracks.

Another important difference is how they read applications. UC Irvine uses the UC application and does not consider test scores for admission, so your grades, course rigor, and activities matter a lot.

For building a college list, it is safest to treat UC Irvine as the more selective option overall and Chapman as somewhat more attainable for many applicants, though neither should be treated casually.