What separated UCSD accepted vs. rejected applicants this cycle? Mostly grades. UC San Diego admitted 24.6% of California high school applicants for fall 2025, and like every UC campus it's test-blind, so the transcript, activities and the four Personal Insight Questions decide everything.
We compared 115 UCSD applicants from self-reported 2026 r/collegeresults posts: 66 admitted, 21 rejected and 28 waitlisted. (Four admits came off the waitlist.) All applied in the UC's single filing period; there's no early round. This is part of a larger comparison of accepted vs. rejected applicants at top colleges, which explains how the data was collected. (UCSD's official rate is above the 15% cutoff used for that article's pooled numbers, so its decisions aren't in the pooled figures there.)
People who post results skew strong, so 57% of this sample got in, more than twice UCSD's real rate. Compare the two groups with each other, not with your own odds, and treat a gap of a few people as possible noise.
UCSD admitted student GPA: 3.98 vs. 3.86
| Admitted | Rejected or waitlisted | |
|---|---|---|
| Median unweighted GPA | 3.98 (47 stated) | 3.86 (40 stated) |
| Median weighted GPA | 4.60 (42 stated) | 4.40 (34 stated) |
| Median AP/IB courses | 11.5 | 11 |
| Median activities listed | 10 | 9 |
| National-level award | 70% | 59% |
Grades were the clearest difference. 22 of the 47 admits who stated a GPA had a 4.0 (47%), versus 7 of the 40 others (18%). Course load was about the same, so this is about the grades earned, not how many hard classes were taken. With no SAT or ACT in play, the transcript does more of the work, just as at UCLA and UC Berkeley.
The GPAs posters list are their own, not UC's. UC recalculates a weighted, capped GPA from 10th and 11th grade courses; by that measure, UCSD's admitted public high school students averaged 4.20 for fall 2025. We break that down by campus and high school in UC admitted GPA by high school.
Out-of-state applicants did as well as Californians
31 of 58 California residents in the sample were admitted (53%), versus 30 of 51 out-of-state and international applicants (59%). Six posters didn't say where they live. That's the opposite of Berkeley, where residents got in at nearly twice the rate of everyone else, and close to UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis, where non-residents in this sample also did as well or better.
This data can't say why. One thing to keep in mind is cost: out-of-state students entering in 2026-27 pay $57,322 a year in UCSD tuition and fees, versus $18,052 for California residents. We compare every campus in UC out-of-state tuition by campus.
Which activities UCSD admits listed more often
- Community service: 67% of admits versus 51% of everyone else, the biggest activity gap at UCSD.
- A selective summer program: 35% versus 20%.
- A science fair award: 17% versus 4%.
- Business or entrepreneurship: 26% versus 14%.
- National Merit: 36% versus 24%.
- Research: 61% versus 51%.
And some showed up more often among applicants who weren't admitted:
- Robotics or engineering teams: 11% of admits versus 22%.
- A paid job: 26% versus 35%.
- Debate, speech or Model UN: 21% versus 27%.
Community service stands out because it made no difference across top schools combined, and showed up more among non-admits at UCLA and Berkeley. Selective summer programs, on the other hand, came out ahead at every UC campus we've written up, which makes them the most consistent pattern in the UC data.
Major choice: CS did better than expected
By the majors applicants listed (some listed more than one):
- Computer science: 15 admitted, 12 not.
- Engineering: 15 admitted, 17 not.
- Math or physical sciences: 20 admitted, 12 not.
- Biology or health: 16 admitted, 13 not.
- Social sciences and policy: 17 admitted, 8 not.
Engineering was the hardest of the larger groups here, but computer science applicants did about as well as anyone, unlike at UIUC or Cornell. These groups are small, and UC campuses do admit by major, so check your own program; we cover how that works in the UC major-specific acceptance rate penalty.
The waitlist
28 of the 115 applicants (24%) were still on the waitlist at the end, and 4 more were admitted off it. So of the 32 who were waitlisted at some point, 4 got in. Our waitlist strategy guide covers what to do if you land there.
What UCSD applicants can take from this
- Grades carry the most weight. Admits were far more likely to have a 4.0, and with no test scores, nothing offsets a weaker transcript.
- Out-of-state isn't a disadvantage in this sample, unlike at Berkeley, but the price is roughly three times higher.
- Service and summer programs lined up with admission here. Engineering-team activities didn't.
- The application is different from the Common App. How UC admissions actually works covers the Personal Insight Questions, timing and how campuses read applications.
UC San Diego's College Intel page carries the same applicant-profile comparison, updated as new posts are logged.
Sources
- College Intel's tally of self-reported r/collegeresults posts, 2026 admissions cycle (405 posts logged as of Oct 12, 2026; 115 with a UC San Diego decision). Recruited athletes and transfer applicants excluded. Aggregates only; no individual post is reproduced, and no figure rests on fewer than 3 people.
- University of California, "Admissions by source school" dashboard, fall 2025 (UCSD's admit rate and admitted GPA for California high school applicants), as cited in UC acceptance rate by high school and UC admitted GPA by high school
- University of California Office of the President, 2026-27 total charges by campus, as cited in UC out-of-state tuition by campus
- College Scorecard -- U.S. Department of Education (UCSD's official admission rate)