How UC Reviews Applicants

The University makes every effort to find a place on one of its campuses for all California residents who meet the minimum admission requirements and apply on time. In recent years, however, the number of applicants to many campuses and majors has greatly exceeded the spaces available.

Using Comprehensive Review to Select Students

When a campus has to choose among qualified students, it applies standards that are more demanding than the minimum requirements. Using a process called comprehensive review, admissions officers look beyond the required test scores and grades to evaluate applicants' academic achievements in light of the opportunities available to them and the capacity each student demonstrates to contribute to the intellectual life of the campus. Because the applicant pool is different every year, the level of academic performance necessary will vary.

To guide campuses in their comprehensive review of applicants, UC faculty developed a list of factors to draw from.

• Freshman Selection Criteria
• Transfer Selection Criteria

Campus Approaches to Comprehensive Review
Each UC campus designs its own method for evaluating the factors considered in comprehensive review. All campuses place the highest importance on academic achievement in evaluating applications. For the most current information on how each campus selects its students, use these links:

Berkeley | Freshman Admission | Transfer Admission [PDF]
Davis | Application Criteria for Freshman Selection | Transfer Student Selection
Irvine | Freshman Selection Criteria at UC Irvine | Transfer Admission to UC Irvine
Los Angeles | Freshman Selection | Transfer Admission
Merced | Freshman Selection at UC Merced | UC Merced Student Affairs
Riverside | Admission as a Freshman | Admission as a Transfer
San Diego | The UCSD Comprehensive Review Process | Transfer Student Services
Santa Barbara | Admissions | Prospective Transfer
Santa Cruz | Freshman Admission and Selection | Transfer Admission and Selection 2005-06