UC Merced acceptance rate by major
UC Merced (UCM) admitted 94.3% of its 49,366 first-year applicants for fall 2025, against 75.5% of 14,056 in fall 2012. Below is the rate in every major and discipline UC reports for UC Merced, every fall since 2012, from the University of California’s own table.
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UC Merced by the numbers, fall 2025
Admit rate
94.3%
46,565 of 49,366
Applicants
49,366
Every residency
Enrolled
1,982
Of 46,565 admitted
Admitted GPA, middle half
3.55 to 4.15
UC weighted, capped
From California high schools alone, 42,407 applied and 40,854 were admitted for fall 2025 (96.3%), by UC’s count of admissions by source school.
UC Merced acceptance rate by major, fall 2025
Hardest first. UC reports first-year applicants by the broad discipline of the major they listed, not by single major. Each link has that discipline’s rate in every fall UC printed.
| Discipline | Applied | Admitted | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arts & Humanities | 1,625 | 1,476 | 90.8% |
| Undeclared | 5,013 | 4,576 | 91.3% |
| Other/Interdisciplinary | 3,176 | 2,909 | 91.6% |
| Business | 3,674 | 3,382 | 92.1% |
| Physical Sciences/Math | 3,227 | 3,008 | 93.2% |
| Social Sciences | 8,622 | 8,049 | 93.4% |
| Public Health | 2,452 | 2,313 | 94.3% |
| Life Sciences | 10,012 | 9,646 | 96.3% |
| Engineering | 11,565 | 11,206 | 96.9% |
A discipline has its own page when UC printed both its applicants and its admits in at least 3 falls, including fall 2025, with at least 250 applicants in fall 2025.
How UC Merced admits: does the major matter?
Neither UC's discipline table nor any page from UC Merced that we have on file says whether UC Merced weighs the intended major in first-year review, so this page does not say either. Ask UC Merced's admissions office before reading this rate as the odds for one major.
Every UC campus reads the same UC application, and the counts on this page include applicants from California, other states and other countries together, because that is how UC publishes this table.
UC Merced acceptance rate every fall since 2012
| Fall | Applied | Admitted | Admit rate | Admitted GPA, middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 49,366 | 46,565 | 94.3% | 3.55 to 4.15 |
| 2024 | 31,928 | 28,906 | 90.5% | 3.42 to 4.04 |
| 2023 | 30,232 | 26,598 | 88.0% | 3.48 to 4.08 |
| 2022 | 29,920 | 26,766 | 89.5% | 3.50 to 4.08 |
| 2021 | 27,793 | 24,069 | 86.6% | 3.40 to 4.00 |
| 2020 | 25,923 | 21,982 | 84.8% | 3.40 to 3.96 |
| 2019 | 25,424 | 18,294 | 72.0% | 3.45 to 4.00 |
| 2018 | 25,131 | 16,628 | 66.2% | 3.46 to 3.96 |
| 2017 | 22,576 | 15,662 | 69.4% | 3.40 to 3.91 |
| 2016 | 20,888 | 15,492 | 74.2% | 3.38 to 3.88 |
| 2015 | 18,862 | 11,447 | 60.7% | 3.45 to 3.91 |
| 2014 | 16,268 | 10,929 | 67.2% | 3.37 to 3.88 |
| 2013 | 15,883 | 10,486 | 66.0% | 3.34 to 3.85 |
| 2012 | 14,056 | 10,613 | 75.5% | 3.30 to 3.83 |
High schools that send the most students to UC Merced
Admits to UC Merced by California high school, fall 2023 to 2025, from UC’s admissions by source school.
| High school | Applied | Admitted | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dougherty Valley High School, San Ramon | 1,029 | 1,010 | 98.2% |
| Dublin High School, Dublin | 807 | 779 | 96.5% |
| American High School, Fremont | 660 | 642 | 97.3% |
| Mission San Jose High School, Fremont | 661 | 639 | 96.7% |
| Irvington High School, Fremont | 623 | 607 | 97.4% |
| Mountain House High School, Mountain House | 526 | 515 | 97.9% |
| Monta Vista High School, Cupertino | 512 | 502 | 98.0% |
| Evergreen Valley High School, San Jose | 492 | 478 | 97.2% |
| Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton | 483 | 464 | 96.1% |
| Cupertino High School, Cupertino | 467 | 457 | 97.9% |
| California High School, San Ramon | 470 | 455 | 96.8% |
| Foothill High School, Pleasanton | 405 | 401 | 99.0% |
UC Merced admissions questions
- What is the UC Merced acceptance rate?
- UC Merced admitted 46,565 of 49,366 first-year applicants for fall 2025, 94.3%, counting every applicant in state and out.
- Which major is hardest to get into at UC Merced?
- Of the disciplines with a page here, Arts & Humanities had the lowest admit rate in fall 2025 (90.8%, 1,476 of 1,625) and Engineering the highest (96.9%).
- Does UC Merced admit by major?
- Neither UC's discipline table nor any page from UC Merced that we have on file says whether UC Merced weighs the intended major in first-year review, so this page does not say either. Ask UC Merced's admissions office before reading this rate as the odds for one major.
More on UC Merced and the UC
- How to get into UC Merced: GPAs, test scores and activities of admits
- UC acceptance rates for every California high school
- UC acceptance rates by major at every campus
Other campuses: UC Berkeley · UCLA · UC San Diego · UC Santa Barbara · UC Irvine · UC Davis · UC Santa Cruz · UC Riverside
Choosing a major for the UC Merced application?
A Specialist can read your student’s file against these numbers and talk through which major and campus fit it.
Sources: University of California Information Center, Freshman admission by discipline, fall 2012 to 2025; high school counts from University of California Information Center, Admissions by source school. UC leaves a number blank when it is too small to print, and this page never fills one in. GPAs are UC’s weighted, capped GPA. Aristo Scholars is not affiliated with the University of California.