Welcome prospective Bobcats. It’s that time of year again as the UC application has now opened and submission starts October 1 through November 30. I am @Gumbymom one of the two UC Forum Champions/Moderators. My Co-Forum Champion is @lkg4answers and we are knowledgeable on the increasingly complicated UC admissions process and hopefully we can help any prospective UC applicants with their questions.
UC Merced like all the UC’s are test blind this admission cycle and will use 13 areas of criteria to review Freshman applicants. Each campus will weight the various areas of criteria differently so one size does not fit all. The UC application website has plenty of information that can help determine if UC Merced is a good option when applying. Below is some admit information specific to the school.
https://admissions.ucmerced.edu/apply
https://admissions.ucmerced.edu/first-year/requirements
2026 Freshman (First year) profile 25th-75th percentile:
UC Capped weighted: 3.57-4.16
Freshman Admit rate: 94.7%
New Majors:
Artificial Intelligence BS
Computer Science BS
Freshman admission information:
Major is not a factor in the admissions process but applicants are admitted by major. Alternate majors are considered if the applicant does not meet their primary choice admission standards.
Selective majors include majors in the College of Engineering and the School of Natural Sciences.
Please note that UC Merced did an early outreach to ELC eligible applicants to apply for free and the emails were sent out in December/January instead of the normal referral process which is done in April.
UCM Campus tours: https://www.ucmerced.edu/tours
Best of luck to all applicants.