Should I choose Indiana or Princeton for admissions selectivity when applying to college?

The biggest practical tradeoff here is that Indiana University Bloomington is a realistic target or likely school for many strong applicants, while Princeton is one of the most difficult colleges in the country to get into no matter how strong you are. Indiana admits a much broader share of applicants and has a more accessible process overall, while Princeton’s applicant pool is packed with students who already have top grades, rigorous coursework, and standout extracurriculars. In plain terms, these two schools are not close in selectivity.

Princeton sits at the extreme high end of admissions selectivity. Even applicants with near-perfect academics are not safe there, because the school evaluates students in a very deep and competitive pool where many candidates look exceptional on paper. That means Princeton should be treated as a reach for essentially everyone.

Indiana is selective in some contexts, especially for certain direct-admit programs, honors options, or competitive majors, but the university as a whole is far more attainable. A student who is comfortably in Indiana’s academic range can view it very differently from Princeton in an application plan. For many applicants, Indiana can play the role of a solid target, and for some it may even be closer to a likely.

So if your question is purely about admissions selectivity, Princeton is dramatically more selective than Indiana. It is not a subtle difference or a matter of small tiers. When building a college list, you should treat Princeton as a high-reach application and Indiana as a substantially less selective option.