UC San Diego CDS VERIFIED

California (West) · 33,000 undergrads · ~42 avg class size · 19:1 student-faculty · $15,000/yr sticker

public Tier 3

Strong R1 research university. CS, bioengineering, and oceanography are standouts. Test-blind admissions for the 24-25 cycle.

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Stats below are CDS-based estimates from recent admissions cycles. Verify on the school's official site before making application decisions.

Acceptance rate

28.4%

most recent reported cycle

By application round

Regular Decision23.5%

State residency

In-state27.0%

Out-of-state20.0%

By college within the university

Computer Science (Jacobs)

UCSD CS direct admit is much more competitive than overall

20.0%

Jacobs School of Engineering

28.0%

Rady School of Management

30.0%

Division of Biological Sciences

30.0%

Scripps Institution of Oceanography (Earth Sci)

30.0%

Division of Arts & Humanities

35.0%

Division of Social Sciences

32.0%

GPA range

3.85–4.0

middle 50% of admitted students (unweighted)

SAT mid-50%

Test-blind

does not consider SAT/ACT

ACT mid-50%

Test-blind

does not consider SAT/ACT

Where this leads

Real career pipelines from this school, based on alumni outcomes and recruiting patterns.

Tech/software engineering: Qualcomm, Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple in San Diego/Bay Area
Biotech and pharma: Illumina, Vertex, Genentech; strong life sciences program locally
Defense contracting: General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon; San Diego heavy presence
Finance: solid West Coast startup VC/PE pipeline, but weak traditional IB recruiting
Climate tech and clean energy: growing SD startup scene, not Goldman Sachs prestige level

Quick facts

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Reference links

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