UC San Diego Receives Record 89,169 Freshman and Transfer Applications for Fall 2014

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The University of California, San Diego has received a record 89,169 freshman and transfer applications for fall 2014. The university had the third highest number of applicants among the University of California campuses. In recent years, UC San Diego has been one of the nation’s top five universities with the most applications.

“UC San Diego’s global reputation as an academic powerhouse has attracted many talented and well-qualified students,” said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “Our rankings as one of the top universities in the world are testament to why UC San Diego continues to enroll the best and the brightest students from all backgrounds.”

UC San Diego received 73,356 freshman applications for fall 2014, up 8.8 percent from last year. Transfer student applications also increased by 5.8 percent from 2013 with a total of 15,813 transfer students applying for admission. The mean high school grade point average (GPA) for freshmen is 3.79, up from 3.77 compared to last year; and the average SAT Reasoning scores are 591, 644 and 607 respectively for Critical Reading, Math and Writing, (up slightly from last year’s applicant SAT scores which were  583, 635 and 595).

In addition, the average GPA among transfer applicants increased from 3.35 to 3.37, compared to last year.

The most popular majors chosen by freshman applicants are in engineering, biology and the social sciences. Almost 50 percent of UC San Diego’s transfer applications are social science majors. Other selected majors among transfers include engineering and science/math.

A popular new degree program among science applicant majors is Public Health. More than 900 freshman and transfer applicants chose the field of study which was first offered to students by the department of family and preventive medicine in the UC San Diego School of Medicine in fall 2013.

UC San Diego continues to see an increase in diversity among student applicants. At the freshman level, the campus had a 6.1 percent rise of historically underrepresented students for fall 2014, with the largest increase coming from Native American applicants (up 19 percent compared to last year). The number of underrepresented transfers rose by 13.8 percent, with increases among African American (up 4.3 percent); Mexican American (up 20 percent); and Latino (up 9.9 percent) applicants compared to last year.

In addition, the number of transfer students who report to be the first in their family to graduate from college increased by 9 percent and the number of low-income transfer applicants rose by 9.1 percent.

Almost 90 percent of transfer applicants are from California Community Colleges. According to Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Alan Houston, attracting California Community College students is a top priority for the campus, which is why UC San Diego will re-launch its UniversityLink program for fall 2015 enrollment. The program will enable low-income, high-achieving regional community college students to have a pathway of guaranteed admission to UC San Diego. The initiative’s participating colleges in the San Diego and Imperial counties include Cuyamaca College, Grossmont College, Imperial Valley College, Miracosta College, Palomar College, San Diego City College, San Diego Mesa College, San Diego Miramar College and Southwestern College.

“We are delighted to offer the UniversityLink program, which will broaden access to our campus,” said Houston. “For many low-income community college students the biggest obstacle to attending a four-year university is the cost of room and board while living away from home. This program aims to make it easier for bright, motivated local community college students to attend UC San Diego.”

All UC campuses are continuing to see more women than men among the freshman and transfer applicants, with UC San Diego recording 50.9 percent females compared to 47.8 percent males and 1.3 percent of applicants not reporting their gender.

The University of California system received a record number of applications for admission to the fall 2014 term.  Overall application volume for fall 2014 admission increased by 4.9 percent over fall 2013 with 183,272 applicants (up from a record high of 174,767). The UC system had a 6.2 percent increase at the freshman level and a slight decrease (0.5) at the transfer level.

For more information on admissions at UC San Diego, go to: admissions.ucsd.edu.