[FrojoS]

Its not. There rejection rate is higher, though. Still, a person who gets into Harvard is more likely to also get into Google than vice versa.

Google gets more applications per open position, so they also have to reject more. Lots of people think "Why not give it a shot and apply at Google." Very few think the same about Harvard. Also, I would say it takes more effort to apply to a university. They will require essays, SAT/GRE and letters of recommendations for a valid application.

[nostrademons]

I applied to Harvard as a "why not give it a shot?" It involved ticking an additional box on the Common Application and paying an additional $25 or so. I needed the essays, letters of recommendations, SAT, etc. anyway, to apply to other schools. Harvard had no additional requirements besides them. (Amherst and Dartmouth, however, required additional essays. I ended up giving up on the Dartmouth supplement because I couldn't be arsed to finish it, then have them nag me for another 2 months about my uncompleted application before I finally told them that no, I didn't actually want to apply.)

[psalminen]

I thought early Google famously cared about the SAT/GRE scores of applicants regardless of age?[0]

[0] https://www.wsj.com/articles/job-hunting-dig-up-those-old-sa...

[zinclozenge]

It also probably costs money to apply to Harvard.

[godelmachine]

Makes sense.