University of California (UC)

UC application opens: August 1st

Application filling period: November 1st - 30th

Cost: $80 per campus (Students may qualify for up to 4 application fee waivers through the UC. If they are not eligible, but received College Board waivers, they will need to mail 1 application fee waiver to the the University of California main office.) 

9 undergraduate campuses

Minimum eligible GPA: 3.0

UC admission holistically review applicants based on the following:

A-G courses and GPA

• SAT Reasoning or ACT both with essay (UC’s take the highest score in 1 sitting)

  • Send official SAT scores to one UC and all UCs will receive scores

• Extracurricular activities and involvement

• Personal Insight Questions (Must answer 4 out of the 8)

*If student passes 3+ AP exams they are an "AP Scholar". ( List under honors and award section on application)

Please note: The majority of UC campuses require students to select an alternate major. In case a student is not admitted into their first major, they will be admitted to the university with their alternate major choice.

Letters of recommendation: UC Berkeley is the only campus who might request letters of recommendation from students after their application has been reviewed.

UC- Indicate interest when completing the UC application.

Make sure to provide the following:

-Parents' level of education

-Family size

-Household income

* No additional materials are required

EOP at UC: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/specific-populations/educational-opportunity-program/index.html

• You will have 8 questions to choose from. You must respond to only 4 of the 8 questions.

• Each response is limited to a maximum of 350 words.

• Which questions you choose to answer is entirely up to you. However, you should select questions that are most relevant to your experience and that best reflect your individual circumstances.

Keep in mind

• All questions are equal. All are given equal consideration in the application review process, which means there is no advantage or disadvantage to choosing certain questions over others.

• There is no right or wrong way to answer these questions. It’s about getting to know your personality, background, interests and achievements in your own unique voice.  

• Use the additional comments field if there are issues you'd like to address that you didn't have the opportunity to discuss elsewhere on the application. This shouldn't be an essay, but rather a place to note unusual circumstances or anything that might be unclear in other parts of the application. You may use the additional comments field to note extraordinary circumstances related to COVID-19, if necessary.