UC San Diego acceptance rate and your odds of getting in
With an acceptance rate near 27%, UC San Diego 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 San Diego 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 1490, a useful checkpoint for where your scores sit, though it is a reference range and not a cutoff.
What do students study at UC San Diego?
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 San Diego?
Direct answers to what applicants ask about getting into UC San Diego, plus a free way to calculate your own odds.
What are my chances of getting into UC San Diego?
UC San Diego admits roughly 27% 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 San Diego in about three minutes, with no account needed to start.
Is UC San Diego hard to get into?
UC San Diego is selective: it admits a minority of applicants, with about a 27% 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 San Diego?
There is no hard GPA cutoff at UC San Diego, but admitted students commonly present roughly a 3.5 to 3.9 GPA. UC San Diego 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 San Diego?
UC San Diego does not publish a required score, but the admitted-student 75th-percentile SAT is around 1490. 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 San Diego.
Your chances at UC San Diego by GPA and SAT
Estimated chance of admission at UC San Diego 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 San Diego with a 3.7 GPA and a 1430 SAT?
About 43% (Target), by CollegeCalcAI's deterministic model, for an applicant with a 3.7 unweighted GPA and a 1430 SAT, the middle of UC San Diego's admitted range, applying Regular Decision without a hook. A 3.9 GPA with a 1490 SAT comes out near 54%. 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-san-diego.
Early Decision, Early Action and the waitlist at UC San Diego
From UC San Diego's own 2025-26 Common Data Set (fall 2025 entering class): sections C1, C2, C21-C22 and D2.
Does UC San Diego have early decision?
No. UC San Diego reported no Early Decision plan in its 2025-26 Common Data Set.
How many students get off the waitlist at UC San Diego?
5,284 for fall 2025. UC San Diego offered 36,709 applicants a waitlist spot, 25,411 accepted one, and 5,284 were admitted from it: 20.8% of those who stayed on (UC San Diego's 2025-26 Common Data Set).
What is the transfer acceptance rate at UC San Diego?
52.8%: 12,440 of 23,577 transfer applicants were admitted for fall 2025 (UC San Diego's 2025-26 Common Data Set).
Source: UC San Diego Common Data Set 2025-26. Every figure appears verbatim in the document. See how early rounds compare across colleges in the Early Decision rankings.
How to get into UC San Diego
Built from UC San Diego'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 San Diego, built from what its admitted class actually looks like and what the school says it weighs.
CollegeCalcAI's modeled typical admit at UC San Diego carries about a 3.70 core GPA and a 1440 SAT, in the most rigorous schedule available. Landing at or above it makes you competitive; the rest of the file decides.
UC San Diego rates rigor of secondary school record, academic GPA, and application essay highest in its own Common Data Set. Put your depth there: essays that sound like you and answer the actual prompt, and a transcript whose rigor rises through junior year.
Most public universities read early applicants first without a binding commitment. Apply by UC San Diego's early or priority deadline (confirm dates at www.ucsd.edu), and if you are out of state, know that residency changes both the bar and the price.
How many students apply to UC San Diego, and how many get in?
For the fall 2023 entering class, UC San Diego received 130,771 applications and admitted 32,062, an acceptance rate of 24.5%. 7,005 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 San Diego enrolls about 34,948 undergraduates in total, 55% 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 San Diego?
UC San Diego 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 San Diego looks for
What UC San Diego weighs most heavily in its admissions review, informed by its reported Common Data Set.
In its review, UC San Diego leans most on rigor of secondary school record, academic GPA, and application essay. 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 San Diego'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 San Diego
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 San Diego cost after financial aid?
The full sticker price at UC San Diego (tuition, fees, housing, food, books) is about $38,701 a year. Tuition and fees are $16,758 for CA residents and $50,958 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 $12,470 a year, and it ranges from $7,525 for families earning under $30,000 to $28,785 for families earning over $110,000. 34% 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 San Diego graduates earn, and how many graduate?
Median earnings for UC San Diego students ten years after entry are $84,943 ($65,669 at the six-year mark). 86% 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 $15,500; 21% 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 San Diego compares in California
UC San Diego ranks #8 most selective of 61 schools in California in our database.
Among the 61 California schools we track, UC San Diego ranks #8 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 San Diego
Schools with a similar selectivity profile, worth comparing as you build a balanced list.
Build around UC San Diego with peers at a comparable selectivity, such as University of Texas at Austin, UC Irvine, and Florida State University. 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 San Diego's acceptance rate?
UC San Diego admitted 32,062 of 130,771 applicants for the fall 2023 entering class, an acceptance rate of 24.5% (U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS). 22% of admitted students enrolled.
Is UC San Diego test-optional?
UC San Diego reports that it neither requires nor recommends test scores.
How much does UC San Diego cost after financial aid?
The average net price at UC San Diego, what students receiving aid paid after grants and scholarships, is $12,470 a year against a sticker price of about $38,701. Families earning under $30,000 paid about $7,525 on average.
What do UC San Diego graduates earn?
Median earnings ten years after entering UC San Diego are $84,943 a year among students who received federal aid, and 86% of students graduate within six years (College Scorecard).
What does UC San Diego value most in applicants?
Based on its admissions profile, UC San Diego weighs rigor of secondary school record, academic GPA, and application essay most heavily. The full factor breakdown is on this page.
Does UC San Diego favor in-state applicants?
As a public university, UC San Diego 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 San Diego?
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 San Diego specifically.
How does residency affect admission to UC San Diego?
As a public university, UC San Diego 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 San Diego a target or a reach for an average applicant?
For an applicant whose GPA and scores sit near UC San Diego'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.