UCSD Acceptance Rate 2023 By Major: Admission Stats

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What is the UCSD acceptance rate for freshmen and transfer students? Can you get into UC San Diego with a low GPA?

In this article, I explained all you need to know about UCSD’s admission rates and the admission requirements for prospective applicants. The University of California, San Diego, has an acceptance or admission rate of 24.7%. This implies that out of every 100 applicants, only 24 are offered admission.

As one of the world’s best research universities and one of the top public colleges in the US, UC San Diego has over 40000 students. The university is still searching for bold innovators eager to swap ideas, share experiences, and explore the world with a new perspective.

UCSD Acceptance Rate 2023

The UCSD acceptance rate for the class of 2027 is about 24.7%. The university received 130,841 freshman applications in 2023 and offered 32,314 first-year applicants admission.

It may also interest you that UCSD’s transfer acceptance rate for 2023 is 62.4%, and 92% of admitted transfer students were from California community colleges.

The number of transfer applications increased by 1.27% from last year. Overall, UCSD is among the top UCs with the highest number of applications this year.

The acceptance rate for transfer students is almost twice that of freshmen, so I recommend going through the community college route to save money. Check out the UCSD acceptance rate for classes of 2023 to 2027 in the table below.

Class ofAcceptance RateApplicationsYield Rate
202330.1%99,12419%
202438.3%100,06218%
202534.3%118,38319%
202623.7%131,22921%
202724.7%130,841N/A

UCSD acceptance rate by major

If your major falls under any of the faculties listed below, you should know how competitive it is.

FacultyAcceptance Rate
Biological Sciences17%
Arts and Humanities5%
Health Sciences2%
Engineering20%
Data Science15%
Social Sciences37%
Physical Sciences12%

From the table above, it’s clear that anyone going for any major under the faculty of health sciences must be ready to beat the competition or get rejected.

UCSD library at night

The university established seven colleges to tighten the community and improve student learning. Applicants are told to rank these colleges in their application forms.

  1. Revelle
  2. Marshall
  3. Sixth
  4. Warren
  5. Roosevelt
  6. Muir
  7. Seventh

Each college differs in some ways, which makes them special.

UCSD acceptance rate for international students

The admission rate for international students at the University of California San Diego is 15%. This implies that out of every 100 applicants, only 15 are offered admission to study their course of study at UCSD.

Below are the acceptance rates for international students over the years.

YearAcceptance Rate
2023N/A
202215%
202131%
202033%
201928%

Furthermore, since only a small fraction of the total number of international applicants is accepted, those offered admission are typically the very best among the pool of applicants. This also suggests that succeeding at UCSD requires impressive academic dedication, commitment, and perseverance.

UC San Diego out-of-state Admit Rate

The UCSD acceptance rate for non-California residents or out-of-state students is 31%. This means that of every 100 applications received by the institution, only 31 students are offered admission.

Below are the acceptance rates for out-of-state students for the last five years.

YearAcceptance Rate
2023N/A
202231%
202159%
202058%
201958%

In comparison, the acceptance rate for California residents is usually higher due to the mission and priority of public universities to support education within their state. However, admission into the University is not solely determined by one’s residency status but involves numerous factors such as academic performance, personal achievements, extracurricular involvement, and more.

UCSD GPA requirements

California residents must have a minimum GPA of 3.0, while non-residents and international applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.4 on a 4.0 scale. Prospective applicants must not have grades lower than ‘C’ in their transcripts.

The average GPA of first-year students at UC San Diego is 4.2 (weighted). International students must demonstrate their proficiency in English.

Your GPA is calculated based on the preparatory courses during high school grades 10 and 11. The ACT and SAT scores are not considered admission requirements, although you can submit them for reference.

International students whose native language is not English must submit their IELTS or TOEFL scores to the university. A minimum TOEFL score of 83 or an IELTS score of 7 is required.

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Is UCSD hard to get into?

UC San Diego is hard to get into but not as hard as other UCs due to its above-average acceptance rate. This doesn’t mean you can get in with a low GPA and no extracurriculars.

night-view of UCSD campus

If it were easy, everyone would do it. Even though they don’t use ACT and SAT scores, an average admitted UCSD student has an SAT score of 1360 and an ACT score of 30.

Here are some important things to note if you want to gain admission to study at UC San Diego.

  • Get close to a 4.0 GPA.
  • Take AP classes you can handle. This should be the number of AP classes offered by your high school.
  • How you stand out from the rest of the competition matters, so why should they offer you admission?
  • Be involved in some volunteering and extracurricular activities.
  • Write an impactful essay or personal statement, brush up on your writing skills, and have it reviewed by an expert before you submit your application.
  • Try your best and leave the rest, don’t try to game the system.
  • Playing high school sports does not matter if you are not passionate about it.

In summary, you should have a strong GPA, good AP test scores, and outstanding extracurriculars. If you wish to save money and yourself from stress, you can go to a community college first and then apply to UCSD as a transfer student.

What is the easiest major to get into?

Most majors under the faculty of social sciences are easy to get into at UCSD. I’m talking about majors under departments like anthropology, education studies, cognitive science, linguistics, psychology, international studies, etc.

Language majors are known to have the highest acceptance rate in all UCs. These majors or departments don’t get as many applicants as other majors at UC San Diego. If you are interested in studying the science of society, you should give it a shot.

Don’t try to study a major you don’t like or just because its admission rate is high; follow your passion. The problem with these low-competition majors is their low job opportunities and average salaries.

Changing majors at UC San Diego is possible if done early and within the same department. For example, you can’t expect to change your major from political science to nursing.

I’m sure you now know everything you need about the UCSD acceptance rate for freshman and transfer students. Share this post with others.

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