Admission Requirements

The University defines freshman applicants as students who have graduated from high school and who have not enrolled in a regular session at any college or university. Students must graduate from an accredited high school or be eligible by examination. Students who attend a summer session immediately after graduating from high school are still considered freshman applicants.

The requirements described below represent the minimum academic standards students must attain to be eligible for admission to the University. Meeting the minimum eligibility requirements does not guarantee admission. Admission to the campus and program of choice often requires students to meet more demanding standards. (For more information, review freshman and transfer selection criteria.)

California Residents

There are three ways for students to meet the University's minimum admission requirements for freshmen:

1. Eligibility in the Statewide Context
   Students who meet minimum requirements for coursework, grade point average and test scores are admitted by this path.
2. Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC)
   Students who rank in the top 4 percent at participating California high schools may be admitted through ELC.
3. Eligibility by Examination Alone
   Students may qualify for admission by achieving high scores on the ACT Assessment plus Writing or SAT Reasoning Test, and on two SAT Subject Tests.

All eligibility requirements must be met no later than the date of high school graduation.

A California student who is designated as UC-eligible through one of these paths is guaranteed admission, though not necessarily to the campus or program of choice.

Nonresidents

There are two paths to UC eligibility for nonresidents at the freshman level. The first is the same as described in Eligibility in the Statewide Context, and the second is the same as described in Eligibility by Examination Alone, with the following exceptions:

• Students must satisfy the Scholarship Requirement with a GPA of 3.4 or above earned along with the test score indicated in the Eligibility Index under "Nonresidents."
• To be eligible by examination alone, nonresident students must achieve a UC Score Total--calculated according to the Eligibility Index--of at least 425.