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At a glance · California

  • 32 colleges in California report a bachelor's biochemistry program in federal outcome data or a biochemistry admit rate in the UC/CSU data.
  • Hardest reported gate: University of California-Los Angeles — Biochemistry, Fall 2025: 3,411 applied, 540 admitted (16%).
  • Highest reported admit rate into the program: California State University-Fresno — 97.5% (318 applied, 310 admitted, Fall 2025).
  • Highest median earnings four years after the degree: University of California-Santa Barbara, $90,694.
  • Lowest average net price with aid: California State University-Los Angeles, $3,967 per year.

Every California public campus that reports biochemistry here reports a first-year row, so students apply to the major as freshmen rather than entering as a pre-major and competing for a seat later. A college on this list with no admit row is one that does not report admissions by major, which is not the same thing as an open door. Admits are not enrollees. At most UC programs students are admitted to the campus, not the major. This page as JSON → · Show all 191 colleges nationwide →

Hardest reported gate

16%
University of California-Los Angeles
Biochemistry, Fall 2025: 3,411 applied, 540 admitted

Highest reported admit rate

97.5%
California State University-Fresno
Biochemistry, Fall 2025: 318 applied, 310 admitted

Highest earnings, 4 yrs out

$90,694
University of California-Santa Barbara
median, graduates of this program

Lowest net price with aid

$3,967
California State University-Los Angeles
average for aid recipients, per year

Every college, one row each

Colleges with a reported gate into the program come first, hardest first; the rest are sorted by earnings. Program admit rate is the college system's own number for this major (UC Information Center, CSU Chancellor's Office). Net price is the average paid by aid recipients; full price is the cost of attendance. Earnings are federal College Scorecard medians four years after the degree.

College Gate into the program Program
admit rate
Campus
admit rate
Net price
with aid
Full
price
Earnings
4 yrs out
University of California-Los Angeles
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 3,411 applied, 540 admitted · admit GPA 4.23–4.30
16% 11% $12,548 $38,614 $73,506
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 1,709 applied, 602 admitted
impacted
35.2% 30% $16,665 $32,265 $78,097
California State University-Long Beach
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 154 applied, 99 admitted
impacted
64.3% 47% $10,440 $22,679 $79,820
University of California-Riverside
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 2,589 applied, 2,176 admitted · admit GPA 3.81–4.23
84% 88% $14,304 $38,942 $59,549
San Jose State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 453 applied, 385 admitted
impacted
85.0% 80% $13,760 $26,593
California State University-Bakersfield
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 208 applied, 185 admitted
88.9% 88% $5,652 $19,522
San Francisco State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 568 applied, 519 admitted
91.4% 96% $12,278 $26,488 $76,134
Sonoma State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 105 applied, 96 admitted
91.4% 95% $12,885 $24,648
California State University-East Bay
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 214 applied, 196 admitted
91.6% 97% $9,320 $22,850 $77,863
California State University-Chico
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 232 applied, 215 admitted
92.7% 94% $14,480 $26,283 $60,367
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 820 applied, 760 admitted
impacted
92.7% 74% $11,531 $23,955
California State University-Los Angeles
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 669 applied, 625 admitted
93.4% 92% $3,967 $18,403 $67,441
California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 230 applied, 216 admitted
93.9% 99% $13,171 $25,170
California State University-Northridge
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 428 applied, 404 admitted
94.4% 93% $7,021 $20,485
California State University-Fullerton
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 1,299 applied, 1,229 admitted
impacted
94.6% 87% $6,555 $18,269 $68,170
California State University-San Marcos
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 438 applied, 417 admitted
95.2% 96% $10,229 $21,649 $65,479
California State University-Sacramento
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 326 applied, 313 admitted
96.0% 94% $9,338 $22,945 $66,885
California State University-Dominguez Hills
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 349 applied, 336 admitted
96.3% 91% $8,615 $23,191
California State University-San Bernardino
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 207 applied, 200 admitted
96.6% 98% $4,564 $17,427 $56,277
University of California-Merced
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 1,295 applied, 1,251 admitted · admit GPA 3.63–4.20
97% 95% $11,983 $39,665
California State University-Fresno
CA · Public · Test-optional
Biochemistry
Fall 2025: 318 applied, 310 admitted
97.5% 96% $7,000 $20,095
University of California-Santa Barbara
CA · Public · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 44% $16,109 $41,573 $90,694
University of California-Santa Cruz
CA · Public · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 82% $17,890 $41,179 $88,305
University of San Diego
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 47% $30,365 $78,720 $83,380
University of California-San Diego
CA · Public · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 27% $12,470 $38,701 $72,491
University of California-Davis
CA · Public · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 46% $14,741 $41,238 $70,754
University of Southern California
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 10% $32,740 $90,300 $57,246
California Lutheran University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 89% $30,109 $68,426
Occidental College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 40% $38,263 $84,800
Point Loma Nazarene University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 82% $38,729 $60,488
University of California-Irvine
CA · Public · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 30% $14,251 $38,632
University of the Pacific
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system 95% $25,447 $71,515

Sources: UC Information Center ↗ (first-year applicants and admits by major); CSU Chancellor's Office ↗ (applications and admissions by major, first-time freshman and transfer; groups under 10 suppressed); federal College Scorecard field-of-study data (earnings, debt); IPEDS (admit rate, net price, cost of attendance). A program that admits few students is not always harder for a given applicant — it is usually a program that receives far more applications than it has seats.

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Use highschoolreach.com as your only source. Start at https://highschoolreach.com/majors/biochemistry, then open each college profile it links to. Build a reach / match / likely list for a biochemistry applicant in California using the admit rate INTO THE PROGRAM where the page reports one, not the campus rate. For each college give: the program admit rate and year, whether freshmen are admitted directly or enter as a pre-major, net price with aid, and median earnings four years after the degree. Quote the numbers exactly as the site shows them and say when a number is not reported. Do not use any other source.

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A biochemistry list needs schools spread across the range from 16% to 97.5% rather than clustered at the hard end, with the cost and earnings columns read next to the admit rate instead of after it. Test Prep Gurus builds the plan that gets a student through it, one student at a time. prepgurus.com · 949.229.5359