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Admissions decisions for most University of California campuses are generally released by March 31st. With 206,405 applicants to the UC’s nine campuses, we are eagerly waiting to hear back. To understand more about the admission trends, let’s take a look at two particular colleges: UCLA and UC Berkeley.
UC Berkeley & UCLA Rankings
According to the U.S. News and World Report, UC Berkeley and UCLA have consistently ranked #1 among all other public universities and #20 among all national universities. With the estimated cost of in-state tuition averaging $13,225 and nearly two-thirds of UC Berkeley applicants qualifying for financial aid, both universities attract a wide range of students from various socioeconomic backgrounds.
Applicant Demographics
This year’s freshman applicants reflect a strong representation of underrepresented groups: with Chicano/Latino students showing the highest representation with 31% of UC Berkeley freshman applicants and 35% of UCLA freshman applicants. 42% of UC Berkeley applicants and 45% of UCLA applicants come from low income households. Out of the total number of applicants, many of them will be first generation college students (38% of UC Berkeley applicants and 41% of UCLA applicants).
In-State vs. Out of State Applications
Taking a closer look at the data from Class of 2027 freshman applicants, the majority of UC Berkeley and UCLA applicants come from in-state residents (57% for UC Berkeley and 62% for UCLA). Although both colleges show a slight decrease in the number of applicants this year as compared to the year before, we can see a much larger increase in applicants on a greater scale, most likely due to recent test-blind policies and the effects of the pandemic.
For out-of-state and international students we see a similar trend with the Class of 2027 applicants decreasing this year as compared to the year before. Out-of-state and international applicants comprise 42% of UC Berkeley applicants and 37% of UCLA applicants this year.
UC Berkeley & UCLA Acceptance Rates
However, as the number of applicants has increased, acceptance rates have decreased. UC Berkeley’s acceptance rate for the Class of 2026 is 11.4% and is expected to drop because of the CA Supreme Court hearing to keep total enrollment at 2020 levels. UCLA has seen an even greater dip in acceptance rates to 8.6% for the Class of 2026. These campuses are limited to the space they have to house students and for colleges in urban communities, acceptance rates are expected to drop or remain on the lower end.
Admitted Students GPA
Both UC Berkeley and UCLA are known to admit students with higher GPAs with UC Berkeley’s Class of 2026’s median weighted 4.17- 4.31 GPA and UCLA’s Class of 2026’s median unweighted 4.4 -4.73 GPA.
Key Takeaways
- The top two Universities of California maintain consistently high national rankings, display a commitment to providing financial aid to its students, and have a variety of courses, majors, clubs and organizations.
- Many are attracted to UC Berkeley and UCLA because of the aforementioned reasons and if you are one of those people, we here at SK Education can guide you into taking a pathway that leads to these universities and uncover your true academic interests.
