UC Santa Barbara acceptance rate by major
UC Santa Barbara life sciences acceptance rate
UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) admitted 8,909 of 21,225 first-year life sciences applicants for fall 2025, or 42.0%. That is 3.8 percentage points above the campus as a whole (38.2%).
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UC Santa Barbara life sciences, fall 2025
Admit rate
42.0%
Campus overall 38.2%
Applicants
21,225
Every residency
Admitted
8,909
1,065 enrolled
Admitted GPA, middle half
4.11 to 4.29
UC weighted, capped
How life sciences compares with UC Santa Barbara overall
It ranked 7th lowest of the 9 disciplines with a page at UC Santa Barbara that fall. In fall 2012, the first fall UC printed for this discipline here, 10,613 applied and 5,014 were admitted (47.2%). By fall 2025 applicants numbered 21,225. Across the 14 falls UC printed, the rate was lowest in fall 2022 (31.9%) and highest in fall 2012 (47.2%).
| Fall | Applied | Admitted | Admit rate | Whole campus | Admitted GPA, middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 21,225 | 8,909 | 42.0% | 38.2% | 4.11 to 4.29 |
| 2024 | 20,941 | 8,398 | 40.1% | 33.0% | 4.13 to 4.29 |
| 2023 | 20,642 | 6,975 | 33.8% | 27.8% | 4.14 to 4.29 |
| 2022 | 20,595 | 6,562 | 31.9% | 25.8% | 4.16 to 4.32 |
| 2021 | 20,235 | 7,024 | 34.7% | 29.2% | 4.12 to 4.30 |
| 2020 | 19,469 | 8,011 | 41.1% | 36.7% | 4.04 to 4.28 |
| 2019 | 18,542 | 6,122 | 33.0% | 29.6% | 4.06 to 4.28 |
| 2018 | 18,215 | 6,575 | 36.1% | 32.2% | 4.03 to 4.27 |
| 2017 | 15,891 | 6,223 | 39.2% | 32.8% | 4.00 to 4.26 |
| 2016 | 14,349 | 5,770 | 40.2% | 35.8% | 3.95 to 4.25 |
| 2015 | 13,348 | 5,329 | 39.9% | 32.6% | 3.95 to 4.24 |
| 2014 | 12,964 | 5,665 | 43.7% | 36.3% | 3.91 to 4.22 |
| 2013 | 12,216 | 5,343 | 43.7% | 39.7% | 3.88 to 4.20 |
| 2012 | 10,613 | 5,014 | 47.2% | 44.4% | 3.85 to 4.18 |
Only the falls in which UC printed both applicants and admits for Life Sciences at UC Santa Barbara are shown (14 of 14). The whole-campus column is every first-year applicant to UC Santa Barbara that fall.
Life Sciences at other UC campuses, fall 2025
| Campus | Applied | Admitted | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| UC Santa Barbara (this page) | 21,225 | 8,909 | 42.0% |
| UCLA | 23,700 | 3,121 | 13.2% |
| UC Berkeley | 19,316 | 3,114 | 16.1% |
| UC Irvine | 18,556 | 5,620 | 30.3% |
| UC San Diego | 25,093 | 8,177 | 32.6% |
| UC Davis | 25,418 | 12,732 | 50.1% |
| UC Santa Cruz | 14,258 | 10,997 | 77.1% |
| UC Riverside | 15,719 | 13,023 | 82.8% |
| UC Merced | 10,012 | 9,646 | 96.3% |
Does UC Santa Barbara admit by major?
Neither UC's discipline table nor any page from UC Santa Barbara that we have on file says whether UC Santa Barbara weighs the intended major in first-year review, so this page does not say either. Ask UC Santa Barbara'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 Santa Barbara life sciences acceptance rate: questions
- What is the UC Santa Barbara life sciences acceptance rate?
- In fall 2025, UC Santa Barbara admitted 8,909 of 21,225 first-year life sciences applicants, 42.0%, by UC's own count of every applicant in state and out.
- Is life sciences harder to get into than UC Santa Barbara overall?
- In fall 2025 its rate was 3.8 percentage points above the campus as a whole (38.2%). It ranked 7th lowest of the 9 disciplines with a page at UC Santa Barbara that fall.
- Does UC Santa Barbara admit by major?
- Neither UC's discipline table nor any page from UC Santa Barbara that we have on file says whether UC Santa Barbara weighs the intended major in first-year review, so this page does not say either. Ask UC Santa Barbara's admissions office before reading this rate as the odds for one major.
- What GPA do UC Santa Barbara life sciences admits have?
- The middle half of admitted life sciences applicants had a UC weighted, capped GPA of 4.11 to 4.29 in fall 2025, against 4.09 to 4.28 for all of UC Santa Barbara. The range describes who was admitted; it is not a cutoff.
More on UC Santa Barbara
- UC Santa Barbara acceptance rate by major, every discipline
- How to get into UC Santa Barbara: 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 Santa Barbara: Arts & Humanities · Business · Computer Science · Engineering · Other/Interdisciplinary · Physical Sciences/Math · Social Sciences · Undeclared
Weighing life sciences at UC Santa Barbara?
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.