UC Irvine acceptance rate and your odds of getting in
With an acceptance rate near 29%, UC Irvine is a selective public university in California. Because it admits a minority of applicants, admission turns on the strength of your whole profile rather than any one number.
Use this page to see what UC Irvine weighs, where it ranks among California schools, and how a profile like yours is likely to land. Admitted students post a 75th-percentile SAT around 1420, a useful checkpoint for where your scores sit, though it is a reference range and not a cutoff.
Acceptance rate at uci?
UC Irvine admitted 30,962 of 121,101 first-year applicants for fall 2023, an acceptance rate of 28.6%.
Source: IPEDS admissions survey, fall 2023. Updated October 31, 2026.
What do students study at UC Irvine?
Bachelor's degrees awarded by field in 2023 (IPEDS completions). Each field has its own page with the school's numbers, the model's major adjustment, and peers offering it.
Will I get into UC Irvine?
Direct answers to what applicants ask about getting into UC Irvine, plus a free way to calculate your own odds.
What are my chances of getting into UC Irvine?
UC Irvine admits roughly 29% of applicants, but that overall rate is not your personal chance. Your real odds depend on how your GPA, course rigor, test scores, and activities compare to its admitted students. Run your profile through the free CollegeCalcAI calculator to get a personalized acceptance percentage for UC Irvine in about three minutes, with no account needed to start.
Is UC Irvine hard to get into?
UC Irvine is selective: it admits a minority of applicants, with about a 29% acceptance rate. A solid academic record puts you in good position, and the rest of your profile can tip the result either way.
What GPA do you need to get into UC Irvine?
There is no hard GPA cutoff at UC Irvine, but admitted students commonly present roughly a 3.5 to 3.9 GPA. UC Irvine reads your GPA alongside the rigor of your courses, so a challenging schedule matters as much as the number itself.
What SAT score do you need for UC Irvine?
UC Irvine does not publish a required score, but the admitted-student 75th-percentile SAT is around 1420. A score at or above that range strengthens your application, while a lower score puts more weight on your rigor, activities, and essays. CollegeCalcAI shows how your exact score shifts your odds at UC Irvine.
Your chances at UC Irvine by GPA and SAT
Estimated chance of admission at UC Irvine for plain profiles, from the same model as the calculator. Unweighted GPA, 6 AP courses, Regular Decision, no legacy, athletic or first-generation hook. The last column is test-optional (no score sent).
What are my chances at UC Irvine with a 3.7 GPA and a 1360 SAT?
About 47% (Likely), by CollegeCalcAI's deterministic model, for an applicant with a 3.7 unweighted GPA and a 1360 SAT, the middle of UC Irvine's admitted range, applying Regular Decision without a hook. A 3.9 GPA with a 1420 SAT comes out near 59%. Courses, activities, essays and the application round move the number; the free calculator includes them.
Estimates, not guarantees. Get yours with your real courses and activities. Assistants and developers can fetch this table from the free API: /api/v1/colleges/uc-irvine.
How to get into UC Irvine
Built from UC Irvine's admitted class and what it reports weighing. The typical-admit GPA and SAT are CollegeCalcAI's modeled figures, not published cutoffs.
Here is how to get into UC Irvine, built from what its admitted class actually looks like and what the school says it weighs.
CollegeCalcAI's modeled typical admit at UC Irvine carries about a 3.68 core GPA and a 1370 SAT, in the most rigorous schedule available. Landing at or above it makes you competitive; the rest of the file decides.
UC Irvine rates rigor of secondary school record, academic GPA, and standardized test scores highest in its own Common Data Set. Put your depth there: and a transcript whose rigor rises through junior year.
Most public universities read early applicants first without a binding commitment. Apply by UC Irvine's early or priority deadline (confirm dates at www.uci.edu), and if you are out of state, know that residency changes both the bar and the price.
How many students apply to UC Irvine, and how many get in?
For the fall 2023 entering class, UC Irvine received 121,101 applications and admitted 30,962, an acceptance rate of 25.6%. 6,796 enrolled. Only about 22% of admitted students enrolled, so the school admits several students for every seat it expects to fill, which is why its acceptance rate reads higher than its selectivity feels. UC Irvine enrolls about 30,197 undergraduates in total, 56% of them women, with a student-to-faculty ratio of 19 to 1.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS 2023 admissions and enrollment.
What SAT and ACT scores do you need for UC Irvine?
UC Irvine reports that it neither requires nor recommends test scores, so admission turns on your transcript, rigor, and the rest of the file.
Source: College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), release 2026-06-10.
What UC Irvine looks for
What UC Irvine weighs most heavily in its admissions review, informed by its reported Common Data Set.
In its review, UC Irvine leans most on rigor of secondary school record, academic GPA, and standardized test scores. Solid grades in a challenging schedule do most of the work here, with the rest of the application providing context. These ratings come from UC Irvine's reported Common Data Set, so the full chart below reflects what the school itself says it values, not a generic guess.
SAT score positioning at UC Irvine
How common SAT scores sit relative to the admitted middle. This is context, not a probability. Your full profile determines the real estimate.
How much does UC Irvine cost after financial aid?
The full sticker price at UC Irvine (tuition, fees, housing, food, books) is about $38,632 a year. Tuition and fees are $15,722 for CA residents and $49,922 for out-of-state students, a $34,200 gap that makes residency the single biggest lever on cost. What families actually pay is different: the average net price after grants and scholarships is $14,251 a year, and it ranges from $8,123 for families earning under $30,000 to $30,546 for families earning over $110,000. 36% of undergraduates receive a federal Pell Grant.
Source: College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), release 2026-06-10. Net price is what students receiving aid paid after grants, by family income.
What do UC Irvine graduates earn, and how many graduate?
Median earnings for UC Irvine students ten years after entry are $80,735 ($56,210 at the six-year mark). 87% of first-time, full-time students graduate within six years, and 94% return for a second year. Among graduates who borrowed, median federal debt at graduation is $15,000; 20% of undergraduates take federal loans.
Source: College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), release 2026-06-10. Earnings cover students who received federal aid.
How UC Irvine compares in California
UC Irvine ranks #9 most selective of 61 schools in California in our database.
Among the 61 California schools we track, UC Irvine ranks #9 most selective by acceptance rate. Schools like California Institute of Technology (3%) and Stanford University (4%) sit nearby, which makes California a useful frame for calibrating a balanced list. As a public university, residency matters: in-state applicants generally see meaningfully better odds than the headline rate suggests.
Similar to UC Irvine
Schools with a similar selectivity profile, worth comparing as you build a balanced list.
Build around UC Irvine with peers at a comparable selectivity, such as UC San Diego, University of Texas at Austin, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Running the same profile against each one in the free calculator is the fastest way to see where you are a reach, a match, or a likely.
Frequently asked questions
What is UC Irvine's acceptance rate?
UC Irvine admitted 30,962 of 121,101 applicants for the fall 2023 entering class, an acceptance rate of 25.6% (U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS). 22% of admitted students enrolled.
Is UC Irvine test-optional?
UC Irvine reports that it neither requires nor recommends test scores.
How much does UC Irvine cost after financial aid?
The average net price at UC Irvine, what students receiving aid paid after grants and scholarships, is $14,251 a year against a sticker price of about $38,632. Families earning under $30,000 paid about $8,123 on average.
What do UC Irvine graduates earn?
Median earnings ten years after entering UC Irvine are $80,735 a year among students who received federal aid, and 87% of students graduate within six years (College Scorecard).
What does UC Irvine value most in applicants?
Based on its admissions profile, UC Irvine weighs rigor of secondary school record, academic GPA, and standardized test scores most heavily. The full factor breakdown is on this page.
Does UC Irvine favor in-state applicants?
As a public university, UC Irvine generally admits in-state applicants at a higher rate than out-of-state applicants, so your home state affects your odds. CollegeCalcAI applies an in-state residency boost when you select your state.
How can I improve my chances at UC Irvine?
Focus on the highest-leverage parts of your application: course rigor and GPA trajectory first, then test scores, then a focused leadership or activity spike. CollegeCalcAI's Power-Ups quantify how much each change would move your odds at UC Irvine specifically.
How does residency affect admission to UC Irvine?
As a public university, UC Irvine typically admits in-state students at a higher rate, and tuition differs sharply by residency. Select your home state in the calculator to fold the in-state effect into your estimate.
Is UC Irvine a target or a reach for an average applicant?
For an applicant whose GPA and scores sit near UC Irvine's admitted range, it generally reads as a target rather than a reach. Run your exact profile through the free calculator to see your personal verdict.
Acceptance rate, application counts, admitted test ranges, cost, and outcomes reflect publicly reported federal data (U.S. Department of Education: IPEDS 2023 and the College Scorecard) and each school's Common Data Set; figures are rounded and lag the current cycle by one to two years, so confirm deadlines and policies on the school's own site. The typical-admit GPA and SAT are CollegeCalcAI's modeled estimates. Estimates from CollegeCalcAI are a planning tool computed by a fixed, transparent model, not a guarantee of any admission decision.