2026 First year UC admit rates

The 2026 UC Preliminary application and admission tables have been posted on the UCOP website and the UC application website has also posted admission data. 2 schools show slightly different numbers than the Preliminary numbers from the UCOP site. I have edited Riverside and Merced with the new numbers. Below are the data table links and based on this information, I have calculated out the Total, In-state, Out of State and International admit rates. I have also included the 2025 admit rate information for comparison.

2026 UC admit rates by residency for First years:

Campus TOTAL FIRST YEAR CA RESIDENT OUT OF STATE INTERNATIONAL
Berkeley 10.5% (133128 apps/13967 admits) 12.4% (76021 apps/9445 admits) 10.0% (31707 apps/3155 admits) 5.0% (25220 apps/1367 admits)
Davis 45.8% (104850 apps/48015 admits) 34.8% (70354 apps/24445 admits) 71.0% (13492 apps/9561 admits) 66.7% (21024 apps/14009 admits)
Irvine 30.3% (125987 apps/38165 admits) 22.7% (87177 apps/19830 admits) 49.5% (16902 apps/8368 admits) 47.2% (21098 apps/9967 admits)
Los Angeles 10.8% (146672 apps/15903 admits) 10.4% (89729 apps/9109 admits) 14.9% (32225 apps/4793 admits) 8.1% (24718 apps/2001 admits)
Merced 94.7%% (49426 apps/46812 admits)edited 99% (41539 apps/41149 admits) 85.7% (1620 apps/1389 admits) 80.0% (5340 apps/4274 admits)
Riverside 88.2% (72542 apps/63958 admits)edited 88.7% (63043 apps/55914 admits) 96.6% (2998 apps/2897 admits) 82.2% (6254 apps/5147 admits)
San Diego 27.2% (141752 apps/38571 admits) 24.1% (89437 apps/21589 admits) 37.2% (26835 apps/9995 admits) 27.4% (25480 apps/6987 admits)
Santa Barbara 44.0% (108503 apps/47716 admits) 34.6% (73187 apps/25289 admits) 63.9% (16290 apps/10403 admits) 63.2% (19026 apps/12024 admits)
Santa Cruz 82.2% (78832 apps/64867 admits) 82.6% (65600 apps/54157 admits) 87.2% (6742 apps/5879 admits) 74.4% (6490 apps/4831 admits)

2025 Data (did not include overall apps/admits):

Campus Overall Acceptance Rates CA RESIDENT OUT OF STATE INTERNATIONAL
Berkeley 11.4% 14.9% (72129 apps/10766 admits) 7.3% (29755 apps/2184 admits) 3.3% (22320 apps/751 admits)
Davis 44.6% 36.7% (67912 apps/24933 admits) 58% (12267 apps/7081 admits) 51% (18655 apps/9604 admits)
Irvine 28.7% 21.8% (87157 apps/19100 admits) 50% (15732 apps/7853 admits) 43% (19412 apps/8360 admits)
Los Angeles 9.4% 9.5% (92290 apps/8795 admits) 9.2% (31841 apps/2929 admits) 6.3% (22119 apps/1384 admits)
Merced 95.1% 100% (23691 apps/24582 admits includes referrals for ELC) 85% (1539 apps/1312 admits) 81% (4121 apps/3339 admits)
Riverside 87.1% 75% (48633 apps/36585 admits) 95% (2753 apps/2623 admits) 85% (6034 apps/5120 admits)
San Diego 28.4% 26% (88392 apps/22979 admits) 33.6% (24169 apps/8112 admits) 22.4% (21878 apps/4893 admits)
Santa Barbara 38.2% 32.3% (75523 apps/24357 admits) 38.4% (17466 apps/6718 admits) 30.4% (17247 apps/5237 admits)
Santa Cruz 72.7% 60.8% (57503 apps/35008 admits) 81.7% (7691 apps/6288 admits) 81.3% (6503 apps/5286 admits)
3 Likes

I wonder when was the last time UC Berkeley’s entering freshman class acceptance rate was lower than UCLA’s? Probably at least 10 years ago.