Which school is more selective, UC Berkeley or Michigan State?

The biggest practical tradeoff here is that UC Berkeley is a highly selective public research university with a much tougher admissions bar overall, while Michigan State is a large, well-regarded public university that is notably more accessible to a broader range of applicants. Berkeley attracts an especially dense pool of top students from California, across the U.S., and internationally, and its review process is very competitive. Michigan State is selective in some programs, but the university as a whole is not viewed in the same admissions tier as Berkeley.

So if your question is simply which school is harder to get into overall, the answer is UC Berkeley. That is true for most applicants, including strong out-of-state students. Berkeley’s applicant pool is larger and more academically intense on average, and admission there typically requires a stronger academic profile and a more compelling overall application.

One useful nuance is that selectivity can vary by college or major. At Berkeley, programs like engineering, business-related paths, and computer science can be especially difficult. At Michigan State, certain direct-entry or specialized programs may be more competitive than general admission, but they still do not usually approach Berkeley’s overall level of selectivity.

For building your college list, it makes sense to treat Berkeley as a reach for most students, while Michigan State is more often a realistic target or likely option depending on your grades, coursework, and residency.