UC San Diego Acceptance Rate & Chances CDS VERIFIED
California (West) · 33,000 undergrads · ~42 avg class size · 19:1 student-faculty · $15,000/yr sticker
public Tier 3
Median earnings (10yr)
$84K
CDS-based estimates from recent admissions cycles. Verify on the school's official site.
28.4% is the average applicant's shot. Your odds depend on your GPA, scores, and hooks. See where you actually stand.
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Acceptance by round
same school, very different odds by round
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%
Career outcomes · 11 sources
Median graduate earnings · 1.8 yrs to pay back 4 yrs of cost · est. lifetime ROI $581K.
Earnings cross-referenced across 11 sources (College Scorecard, Opportunity Insights, Georgetown CEW, FREOPP, PayScale, and more).
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
About UC San Diego
Strong R1 research university. CS, bioengineering, and oceanography are standouts. Test-blind admissions for the 24-25 cycle.
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