University of California Overview

Internationally recognized research and educational institutions, the reputation of the 10 UC campuses proceeds them. While there are ten total campuses, only nine are offered to graduating high school students. These campuses span across all of California and offer an academically robust and affordable college experience to students. Given the popularity of these schools, both in state and out of state, admission rates at the top campuses — 12.4% at UCLA, 16.8% at UC Berkeley — rival the admission rates of the most elite schools in the country. The average acceptance rate across all the campuses hovers around 33%.

UCs provide a strong 4-year university experience, offering degrees ranging from B.A., B.S., M.S., M.A., PhD, J.D., and M.D. Each campus has a different specialty in focus and have earned recognition in certain fields of study and careers. The average enrollment in a UC is rougly around 30,000 students (including undergraduate and graduate students).

The estimated cost of attending a UC costs around 35,000-38,000 a year (including room & board).

Why Go?

Unlike the California State Universities, the UC schools are large research institutions with budgets to match. Each campus provides excellence in any number of areas, some known, others less known: UCLA in medicine and the arts, UC Irvine in premed and writing, UC Santa Cruz in cell and molecular biology and (you’d never guess) computer game design.

Having research and innovation happening on campus makes attending a UC an exciting experience for any student who strives to be a part of world-changing work.

The research focus is evident at a UC, and students whose path includes graduate school and other post-baccalaureate study will have their undergraduate work tailored to those goals. A UC education will have more emphasis on theory and less on application, establishing a foundation for graduate studies instead of an immediate jump into industry.

Pulled from: "California Public Colleges 103: The UC System"

UC Application Requirements

The University of California selects applicants from the top twelve percent of California's high school graduates. In order to be eligible to apply, the University of California requires students to:

a. Graduate from high school, AND
b. Earn a C or better (GPA Minimum of 3.0 for CA residents, 3.4 for non-CA residents) in specific high school courses that satisfy the "a-g" requirements.
1. 1. - You must complete 11 of these 15 required courses by your junior year. For more detailed information about coursework, look below.
    - Want to check if you are "a-g" on track based on your specific high school? UC as an "A-G Course" Tool! Instructions to using this tool found here!

For information about all campuses and registration: https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/admission-requirements/freshman-requirements/

PERKS:

No SAT/ACT Test Scores Needed
A single UC Admissions Portal that applies to all campuses (should you so choose)

Note For California students:

If you're a state resident graduating from a California high school who has met the minimum requirements and aren't admitted to any UC campus to which you apply, you'll be offered a spot at another campus if space is available, provided:

You rank in the top 9 percent of California high school students, according to our updated Statewide Index, or
You rank in the top 9 percent of your graduating class at a participating high school. We refer to this as "Eligible in the Local Context" (ELC).

This means that UCs want to serve top-tier CA residents and provide an admission bump to students who are “eligible in the local context” — the top 9% of their local school — and by guaranteeing a spot for students who, based on GPA, are ranked in the top 9 percent in the state (“if space is available”).

They also have commitments with the California Community Colleges to encourage junior-level transfer and have multiple transfer pathways to support these students, though some campuses are more transfer-friendly than others.

UC Admissions Rubric

While being eligible to apply may seem simple enough, the actual admissions criteria is a bit more robust. All UCs use a 14-point comprehensive review to determine admission, though how that review is applied varies by campus. The UC Admissions Office uses a rubric for each application, and often looks far beyond just grades and transcript when making their admissions decision.

Because the pool of students who apply to UC is different every year, the level of academic performance necessary for admission to a particular campus or major is different, too.

Acceptance rates depend on the number of applicants, their academic qualifications and the spaces available. Like CSUs, impacted majors and departments have a much lower admission rate than less popular or impacted majors and departments.

In general, top UCs often look for students with high GPAs, a rigorous transcript, strong extra-curriculars, and clear attributes and achievements shown through their essay responses. Moreover, UCs take into consideration how eligible a student is within their local context--as in, when comparing students to other students of that same region, did this student make bold choices and explore opportunities available? Overall, when UC admission readers are reviewing applications, they are looking for several points or marks of excellence, resilience, leadership, intellectual curiosity, and more.

Here are some of those additional markers they look for (paraphrased from their "14-point rubric"):

Academic performance relative to your peers/region
Special projects, achievements, and work related to intended field of study
Improvement in grades or academic performance
Special talents, leadership positions, awards, and skills (art, music, athletics, debate, language, culture, etc.)
Academic accomplishments in light of extenuating or difficult life circumstances

Find out more about UC Admission Preferences in our Getting In: What Colleges Want - UC Admissions Page

Caveats

UCs provide an expansive, robust, and enriching academic experience to all of their students--however UCs still may not be a great fit for everyone. In research-heavy departments (biology, CS, engineering, etc.), freshmen often pay the price. These introductory classes are often taught in large lecture halls housing 300-400 students at once. Being in a large lecture-based learning environment may not fit every student's learning styles and needs. Especially in highly competitive majors (biology, premed, for example), these large classes may feel particularly intense and competitive. Furthermore, larger class sizes may mean less opportunity to meet and work with professors, graduate students, and other research and internship opportunities.

Moreover, most UCs are on a quarter system, meaning students can take more classes in one year, but the pace of learning large amounts of content moves faster compared to other campuses--and students may feel less prepared when midterms quickly come around. With just a handful of tests to determine a grade, mistakes and errors may be harder to fix before the class ends.

In exchange for their persistence in sometimes challenging undergraduate settings, UC students benefit from research opportunities with talented professors as well as strong preparation for post-graduate experiences and high performance in their professional careers.

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