Is computer science harder to get into than other majors? It depends heavily on the school, and less than most applicants assume. We compared CS applicants with everyone else at the same college, using 6,354 self-reported 2026 decisions from 404 applicants on r/collegeresults. At some schools CS applicants were admitted far less often. At most top private universities, they did as well as everyone else or better.
The short version:
- CS was clearly harder at a handful of schools, led by UW Seattle, UChicago, UIUC, UCLA and Georgia Tech.
- It wasn't harder across top colleges as a group. At schools admitting under 15%, CS applicants were admitted in 29.8% of their decisions, versus 28.7% for everyone else.
- The pattern split by school type. CS applicants did worse at 9 of the 14 public universities in the comparison, but as well or better at 15 of the 22 private ones.
This builds on our comparison of accepted vs. rejected applicants at top colleges, which explains how the data was collected, and on two schools' own published CS admit rates: UIUC's and the University of Washington's.
How to read these numbers
A "CS applicant" here is anyone who listed computer science as an intended major, including double interests like CS and math. Engineering is counted separately. In total, 79 of the applicants in our tally listed CS.
People who post results skew strong, so every admit rate below runs well above the school's real one. That's why each school's CS applicants are compared with everyone else applying to that same school, not with the official rate. A gap between the two groups is the useful part. Most schools have only 12 to 47 CS applicants in the tally, so a gap of 10 points at one school can come down to two or three people. Read the overall pattern more than any single row.
CS vs. non-CS admit rates by college
All 36 schools with at least 12 CS applicants in the tally, ordered from the biggest CS disadvantage to the biggest CS advantage.
| School | Official admit rate | CS applicants admitted | Everyone else admitted |
|---|---|---|---|
| UW Seattle | 39.1% | 9 of 19 (47%) | 41 of 54 (76%) |
| UChicago | 4.5% | 1 of 22 (5%) | 12 of 55 (22%) |
| UIUC | 42.4% | 16 of 36 (44%) | 37 of 64 (58%) |
| UCLA | 9.0% | 11 of 36 (31%) | 49 of 117 (42%) |
| UC Davis | 41.8% | 9 of 13 (69%) | 48 of 60 (80%) |
| Georgia Tech | 14.1% | 14 of 39 (36%) | 34 of 73 (47%) |
| Caltech | 2.6% | 4 of 19 (21%) | 7 of 22 (32%) |
| Columbia | 4.0% | 5 of 39 (13%) | 22 of 102 (22%) |
| Duke | 5.7% | 5 of 22 (23%) | 20 of 64 (31%) |
| Purdue | 49.9% | 20 of 27 (74%) | 36 of 44 (82%) |
| Stanford | 3.6% | 9 of 43 (21%) | 26 of 94 (28%) |
| Michigan | 15.6% | 9 of 27 (33%) | 39 of 105 (37%) |
| Cornell | 8.8% | 12 of 47 (26%) | 28 of 96 (29%) |
| UC San Diego | 26.7% | 15 of 27 (56%) | 52 of 89 (58%) |
| UT Austin | 26.6% | 9 of 25 (36%) | 17 of 44 (39%) |
| Carnegie Mellon | 11.7% | 13 of 41 (32%) | 19 of 57 (33%) |
| Brown | 5.4% | 10 of 33 (30%) | 31 of 103 (30%) |
| Wisconsin | 45.2% | 13 of 18 (72%) | 29 of 41 (71%) |
| Northwestern | 7.7% | 7 of 30 (23%) | 22 of 105 (21%) |
| USC | 9.8% | 13 of 27 (48%) | 36 of 81 (44%) |
| Dartmouth | 5.4% | 4 of 17 (24%) | 13 of 66 (20%) |
| NYU | 9.2% | 7 of 25 (28%) | 18 of 75 (24%) |
| UC Berkeley | 11.0% | 14 of 36 (39%) | 39 of 119 (33%) |
| Yale | 3.9% | 8 of 36 (22%) | 18 of 114 (16%) |
| MIT | 4.5% | 8 of 42 (19%) | 8 of 64 (13%) |
| Boston University | 11.1% | 7 of 15 (47%) | 28 of 71 (39%) |
| Princeton | 4.6% | 10 of 42 (24%) | 16 of 98 (16%) |
| Vanderbilt | 5.9% | 3 of 12 (25%) | 11 of 69 (16%) |
| UC Irvine | 28.6% | 17 of 22 (77%) | 44 of 67 (66%) |
| Rice | 8.0% | 7 of 16 (44%) | 18 of 59 (31%) |
| UC Santa Barbara | 33.0% | 17 of 19 (89%) | 49 of 65 (75%) |
| Harvard | 3.6% | 9 of 38 (24%) | 9 of 100 (9%) |
| Northeastern | 5.2% | 14 of 21 (67%) | 38 of 74 (51%) |
| Penn | 5.4% | 14 of 41 (34%) | 19 of 106 (18%) |
| Maryland | 44.8% | 17 of 21 (81%) | 22 of 34 (65%) |
| Johns Hopkins | 6.4% | 11 of 26 (42%) | 19 of 74 (26%) |
Where CS was hardest to get into
Five of the top six schools are public universities, and the two biggest gaps line up with what those schools publish themselves:
- UW Seattle: 9 of 19 CS applicants admitted, versus 41 of 54 others. UW admits students directly into CS and publishes the results: for the 2025 cycle, it admitted 37% of Washington residents to CS, but only 5% of domestic non-residents and 2% of international applicants. See UW computer science acceptance rate and UW Seattle accepted vs. rejected applicants.
- UIUC: 16 of 36 versus 37 of 64. UIUC's admissions office puts its Computer Science admit rate at 7.4%, far below the campus-wide rate. See UIUC computer science acceptance rate, and our UIUC accepted vs. rejected applicants breakdown.
- UCLA and Georgia Tech: CS applicants were admitted about 11 points less often than everyone else. We break both schools down in UCLA accepted vs. rejected applicants and Georgia Tech accepted vs. rejected applicants.
The biggest private-school gap was UChicago, where just 1 of 22 CS applicants was admitted, versus 12 of 55 others; we cover UChicago with five similar schools in this pooled comparison. Columbia, Duke, Stanford and Caltech also leaned against CS applicants, by 7 to 11 points.
Why would public universities lean against CS more often? Many of them admit students into a specific major or college and cap how many CS students they can take, so CS applicants compete in a smaller, more crowded pool. We explain how that works, and when applying to a different major and switching later is realistic, in can you apply to an easy major and switch to a competitive one and why engineering admissions are more competitive than you think.
Where CS applicants did as well or better
At the bottom of the table, CS applicants were admitted more often than everyone else: Johns Hopkins (42% versus 26%), Penn (34% versus 18%), Harvard (24% versus 9%), Rice and Princeton among them. UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and Maryland showed the same thing among public universities.
Two likely reasons. Many private universities admit students to the university as a whole rather than to a CS program, so a CS applicant competes with everyone, not just other CS applicants. And the CS applicants in our tally were strong on paper: a median 4.0 unweighted GPA and 790 SAT math. So a CS edge here most likely reflects who these particular applicants were, not a preference for CS.
Across top colleges, CS wasn't harder
At the 52 schools in our tally that admit under 15% of applicants, CS applicants were admitted in 29.8% of their decisions, versus 28.7% for everyone else. Engineering applicants (not counting CS) were at 28.7% too. Their school mix was similar: CS applicants' schools averaged a 7.2% official admit rate, versus 7.8% for everyone else.
So "CS is impossible" isn't what this data shows. What it shows is that where you apply as a CS major matters much more than the major itself.
What separated admitted and rejected CS applicants
Among CS applicants at schools admitting under 15%, grades and test scores came with the biggest gaps:
- A 4.0 unweighted GPA: admitted in 36.7% of decisions, versus 21.1% below 4.0 (32 and 30 people).
- An SAT of 1550 or higher, where sent: 35.6% versus 20.4% (28 and 30 people).
- An 800 on SAT math: 33.7% versus 21.1% (20 and 31 people).
Both groups applied to schools with similar official admit rates, so the gaps aren't explained by the stronger students aiming lower.
Activities were less clear, and these groups are small, so treat them as hints:
- Research: 33.6% with it, versus 25.6% without (41 people listed it).
- A selective summer program: 36.3% versus 26.6% (21 people).
- A paid job: 37.2% versus 25.5% (30 people).
- Coding or tech projects: 32.3% versus 27.9% (37 people), a small edge.
- Math or computer science competitions: 30.2% versus 29.6% (23 people), no real difference.
- Robotics or engineering teams: 26.3% versus 30.9% (17 people).
That last group is worth noticing. Coding projects, CS competitions and robotics are what most CS applicants list: 47% of them listed coding projects and 29% listed math or CS competitions. When nearly everyone in a pool has the same activity, it can't set anyone apart. The things that did line up with admission, research, selective programs and real jobs, were less common among CS applicants.
What CS applicants can take from this
- Check your specific schools, not "CS" in general. At some, CS applicants did much worse than everyone else; at many top private universities, they didn't.
- At public universities that admit by major, CS can be a separate, much smaller pool. UW and UIUC publish their CS admit rates, and both are far below the campus rate. Look for that number before you apply.
- Your transcript and scores still did the most work. A 4.0, a 1550+ SAT and an 800 in math came with the biggest gaps among CS applicants.
- Coding and robotics are expected, not distinctive. Research, selective programs and work experience were less common, and lined up better with admission.
If CS demand itself is on your mind, our look at whether computer science is still worth it covers what the latest enrollment and jobs data show.
Sources
- College Intel's tally of self-reported r/collegeresults posts, 2026 admissions cycle (414 posts logged as of Oct 15, 2026; 79 applicants listing computer science). Recruited athletes and transfer applicants excluded. Aggregates only; no individual post is reproduced, and no figure rests on fewer than 3 people.
- University of Washington Paul G. Allen School admissions data by residency, 2025 cycle, as cited in UW computer science acceptance rate
- UIUC Office of Undergraduate Admissions first-choice-major admit rates, as cited in UIUC computer science acceptance rate
- College Scorecard -- U.S. Department of Education (official admission rates)