UC San Diego acceptance rate by major
UC San Diego engineering acceptance rate
UC San Diego (UCSD) admitted 3,938 of 20,205 first-year engineering applicants for fall 2025, or 19.5%. That is 8.6 percentage points below the campus as a whole (28.1%).
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UC San Diego engineering, fall 2025
Admit rate
19.5%
Campus overall 28.1%
Applicants
20,205
Every residency
Admitted
3,938
1,074 enrolled
Admitted GPA, middle half
4.17 to 4.30
UC weighted, capped
How engineering compares with UC San Diego overall
It ranked 2nd lowest of the 13 disciplines with a page at UC San Diego that fall. In fall 2012, the first fall UC printed for this discipline here, 9,255 applied and 3,974 were admitted (42.9%). By fall 2025 applicants numbered 20,205. Across the 14 falls UC printed, the rate was lowest in fall 2024 (16.8%) and highest in fall 2012 (42.9%).
| Fall | Applied | Admitted | Admit rate | Whole campus | Admitted GPA, middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 20,205 | 3,938 | 19.5% | 28.1% | 4.17 to 4.30 |
| 2024 | 18,443 | 3,102 | 16.8% | 26.7% | 4.16 to 4.30 |
| 2023 | 16,709 | 2,975 | 17.8% | 24.5% | 4.16 to 4.30 |
| 2022 | 15,582 | 3,174 | 20.4% | 23.7% | 4.18 to 4.33 |
| 2021 | 12,068 | 4,077 | 33.8% | 34.2% | 4.12 to 4.30 |
| 2020 | 10,437 | 3,828 | 36.7% | 36.6% | 4.12 to 4.30 |
| 2019 | 10,585 | 3,128 | 29.6% | 31.5% | 4.14 to 4.30 |
| 2018 | 11,096 | 3,467 | 31.2% | 30.1% | 4.11 to 4.30 |
| 2017 | 12,433 | 4,309 | 34.7% | 34.0% | 4.12 to 4.30 |
| 2016 | 10,988 | 3,397 | 30.9% | 35.7% | 4.15 to 4.32 |
| 2015 | 10,897 | 3,408 | 31.3% | 33.7% | 4.16 to 4.32 |
| 2014 | 10,463 | 3,299 | 31.5% | 33.3% | 4.15 to 4.32 |
| 2013 | 10,407 | 4,263 | 41.0% | 36.6% | 4.04 to 4.30 |
| 2012 | 9,255 | 3,974 | 42.9% | 37.5% | 4.00 to 4.28 |
Only the falls in which UC printed both applicants and admits for Engineering at UC San Diego are shown (14 of 14). The whole-campus column is every first-year applicant to UC San Diego that fall.
Engineering at other UC campuses, fall 2025
| Campus | Applied | Admitted | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| UC San Diego (this page) | 20,205 | 3,938 | 19.5% |
| UCLA | 23,911 | 1,591 | 6.7% |
| UC Berkeley | 25,025 | 1,788 | 7.1% |
| UC Santa Barbara | 12,679 | 2,694 | 21.2% |
| UC Irvine | 20,276 | 5,387 | 26.6% |
| UC Davis | 17,866 | 6,935 | 38.8% |
| UC Santa Cruz | 5,134 | 3,961 | 77.2% |
| UC Riverside | 11,480 | 9,615 | 83.8% |
| UC Merced | 11,565 | 11,206 | 96.9% |
Does UC San Diego admit by major?
Neither UC's discipline table nor any page from UC San Diego that we have on file says whether UC San Diego weighs the intended major in first-year review, so this page does not say either. Ask UC San Diego's admissions office before reading this rate as the odds for one major.
UC counts an applicant under the broad discipline of the major they listed. These counts include applicants from California, other states and other countries together, so a California student’s own rate can differ.
UC San Diego engineering acceptance rate: questions
- What is the UC San Diego engineering acceptance rate?
- In fall 2025, UC San Diego admitted 3,938 of 20,205 first-year engineering applicants, 19.5%, by UC's own count of every applicant in state and out.
- Is engineering harder to get into than UC San Diego overall?
- In fall 2025 its rate was 8.6 percentage points below the campus as a whole (28.1%). It ranked 2nd lowest of the 13 disciplines with a page at UC San Diego that fall.
- Does UC San Diego admit by major?
- Neither UC's discipline table nor any page from UC San Diego that we have on file says whether UC San Diego weighs the intended major in first-year review, so this page does not say either. Ask UC San Diego's admissions office before reading this rate as the odds for one major.
- What GPA do UC San Diego engineering admits have?
- The middle half of admitted engineering applicants had a UC weighted, capped GPA of 4.17 to 4.30 in fall 2025, against 4.11 to 4.29 for all of UC San Diego. The range describes who was admitted; it is not a cutoff.
More on UC San Diego
- UC San Diego acceptance rate by major, every discipline
- How to get into UC San Diego: GPAs, test scores and activities of admits
- UC acceptance rates by major at every campus
- UC acceptance rates for every California high school
Other majors at UC San Diego: Architecture · Arts & Humanities · Business · Computer Science · Education · Life Sciences · Other Health Science · Other/Interdisciplinary · Physical Sciences/Math · Public Health · Social Sciences · Undeclared
Weighing engineering at UC San Diego?
A Specialist can read your student’s file against these numbers and talk through which major and campus fit it.
Source: University of California Information Center, Freshman admission by discipline, fall 2012 to 2025. 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.