Is Columbia or Carnegie Mellon harder to get into overall?

Columbia is harder to get into for undergraduate admission than Carnegie Mellon. Columbia’s applicant pool is exceptionally large across both Columbia College and Columbia Engineering, and admission is extremely selective regardless of intended major. Carnegie Mellon is also highly selective, but its overall admission process has more variation by school and program.

Columbia tends to suit applicants who want a broad Ivy League-style academic environment in New York City, with strong interest in the Core Curriculum, liberal arts exploration, and access to a large urban campus network. Because applicants are evaluated in the context of Columbia’s very limited class size and unusually deep pool of high-achieving candidates, even excellent grades, coursework, and activities do not make admission predictable.

Carnegie Mellon is a particularly demanding target for students applying to its most sought-after technical and creative programs, especially the School of Computer Science, engineering, design, and drama. Those programs can be as difficult as, or in certain cases feel tougher than, Columbia because applicants need both outstanding academics and convincing evidence of specialized preparation. Other Carnegie Mellon colleges may be comparatively less restrictive, though they remain selective.

For Carnegie Mellon, assess selectivity at the school or major level rather than relying on the university’s overall reputation.