Research · UC admissions · October 2026

The hardest majors to get into at each UC campus in Fall 2025

Name: The hardest majors to get into at each UC campus in Fall 2025
Creator: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As of October 2026: The hardest major at any UC in Fall 2025 was Nursing Science at UC Irvine, which admitted 57 of 7,079 applicants, a 1% rate. Public Health at UC Berkeley came next at 2%, with 74 admits from 3,415 applicants.

The table holds UC majors with big applicant pools in Fall 2025, ranked by admit rate; UC admits to the campus, not the major, at most programs.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

The findings, in plain English

Nursing at UC Irvine is the hardest program on the list. UC Irvine admitted 57 of 7,079 applicants to Nursing Science in Fall 2025. Admitted students had capped weighted GPAs of 4.27 to 4.34. That is the lowest admit rate in the table and the highest GPA range in it.

Berkeley and UCLA hold almost every spot. Nearly all of the lowest rates belong to UC Berkeley or UCLA. The only others are Nursing Science at UC Irvine, at 1%, and Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science at UC San Diego, at 5% and 10%. Engineering and computer science show up often, and so do Art, Theater, English and Philosophy.

Hard means something different at each campus. At UC Berkeley the hardest major, Public Health, admitted 2% of applicants. At UC Santa Cruz the hardest, Art, admitted 61%. At UC Merced the hardest, Sociology, admitted 89%. The second table lists the three lowest rates at every campus, so a family can see the real range.

The hardest UC majors to get into, Fall 2025

Ranked by admit rate, lowest first.

Campus	Major	Applicants	Admits	Admit rate	Admitted GPA 25th	Admitted GPA 75th
UC Irvine	Nursing Science	7,079	57	1%	4.27	4.34
UC Berkeley	Public Health	3,415	74	2%	4.16	4.29
UC Berkeley	Aerospace Engineering	2,890	95	3%	4.2	4.29
UCLA	Art	1,404	46	3%	3.78	4.14
UC Berkeley	Computer Science	7,215	283	4%	4.2	4.29
UC Berkeley	Mechanical Engineering	6,148	252	4%	4.2	4.3
UCLA	Mechanical Engineering	6,082	239	4%	4.25	4.32
UCLA	Marine Biology	883	36	4%	4.14	4.3
UC Berkeley	Business Administration	7,102	323	5%	4.2	4.3
UC Berkeley	Psychology	6,361	343	5%	4.15	4.29
UC Berkeley	Economics	5,345	264	5%	4.13	4.28
UC San Diego	Mechanical Engineering	4,577	251	5%	4.22	4.33
UCLA	Aerospace Engineering	2,887	136	5%	4.25	4.3
UCLA	Computer Engineering	1,709	81	5%	4.24	4.3
UC Berkeley	Legal Studies	1,509	71	5%	4.1	4.3
UCLA	Undeclared - Social Science	3,676	230	6%	4.16	4.3
UC Berkeley	Media Studies	1,189	72	6%	4.1	4.28
UC Berkeley	Art	1,049	61	6%	4.11	4.27
UCLA	Computer Science	6,803	498	7%	4.25	4.3
UC Berkeley	Architecture	2,247	150	7%	4.16	4.3
UCLA	Undeclared - Humanities	1,555	108	7%	4.16	4.3
UCLA	Undeclared - Physical Science	1,227	88	7%	4.1	4.3
UC Berkeley	Interdisciplinary Studies	549	39	7%	4.15	4.28
UCLA	Gender Studies	419	28	7%	4.11	4.3
UC Berkeley	Bioengineering	3,128	249	8%	4.21	4.29
UCLA	Civil Engineering	2,717	207	8%	4.25	4.33
UCLA	Bioengineering	2,632	213	8%	4.24	4.32
UCLA	Theater	1,408	116	8%	4.0	4.24
UC Berkeley	Engineering Physics	384	29	8%	4.21	4.28
UCLA	Electrical Engineering	3,053	265	9%	4.25	4.3
UCLA	Undeclared - Life Science	1,656	143	9%	4.18	4.3
UCLA	Anthropology	1,081	92	9%	4.21	4.32
UCLA	Art History	526	46	9%	4.22	4.3
UC San Diego	Computer Science	6,464	672	10%	4.19	4.3
UC Berkeley	Civil Engineering	2,197	225	10%	4.2	4.3
UCLA	English	1,858	184	10%	4.2	4.3
UCLA	Philosophy	863	86	10%	4.21	4.3
UCLA	Earth And Environmental Science	754	75	10%	4.17	4.3
UCLA	Biology	9,026	993	11%	4.2	4.3
UC Berkeley	Political Science	4,295	477	11%	4.16	4.29

Fall 2025 first-year applicants and admits at UC majors with 300 or more applicants. Admits are offers of admission, not enrolled students. GPA is UC's capped weighted GPA for admitted students, at the 25th and 75th percentile. UCOP suppresses majors with fewer than 5 applicants, so the columns do not sum to a campus total. Where UCOP files one program under several names with identical counts, we show it once.

The three hardest majors at each UC campus

Campuses are ordered by their own lowest admit rate.

Campus	Major	Applicants	Admits	Admit rate	Admitted GPA 25th	Admitted GPA 75th
UC Irvine	Nursing Science	7,079	57	1%	4.27	4.34
UC Irvine	Game Design And Interactive Media	1,004	137	14%	4.17	4.28
UC Irvine	Business Administration	15,478	2,299	15%	4.08	4.28
UC Berkeley	Public Health	3,415	74	2%	4.16	4.29
UC Berkeley	Aerospace Engineering	2,890	95	3%	4.2	4.29
UC Berkeley	Computer Science	7,215	283	4%	4.2	4.29
UCLA	Art	1,404	46	3%	3.78	4.14
UCLA	Mechanical Engineering	6,082	239	4%	4.25	4.32
UCLA	Marine Biology	883	36	4%	4.14	4.3
UC San Diego	Mechanical Engineering	4,577	251	5%	4.22	4.33
UC San Diego	Computer Science	6,464	672	10%	4.19	4.3
UC San Diego	Bioengineering	1,099	162	15%	4.24	4.3
UC Santa Barbara	Art	721	86	12%	3.85	4.14
UC Santa Barbara	Chemical Engineering	8,056	1,277	16%	4.23	4.32
UC Santa Barbara	Electrical Engineering	2,617	721	28%	4.2	4.3
UC Davis	Computer Science	4,893	946	19%	4.2	4.3
UC Davis	Design	1,079	211	20%	4.18	4.29
UC Davis	Business	8,516	1,786	21%	4.03	4.27
UC Santa Cruz	Art	728	446	61%	3.76	4.13
UC Santa Cruz	Music	334	210	63%	3.76	4.12
UC Santa Cruz	Film And Digital Media	1,284	834	65%	3.8	4.12
UC Riverside	Mechanical Engineering	3,241	2,442	75%	3.92	4.22
UC Riverside	Computer Science	2,712	2,104	78%	4.03	4.26
UC Riverside	Microbiology	524	415	79%	3.88	4.22
UC Merced	Sociology	1,511	1,345	89%	3.37	4.0
UC Merced	Communication And Media	1,259	1,134	90%	3.39	4.0
UC Merced	Data Science And Analytics	1,120	1,011	90%	3.45	4.1

Each campus block holds that campus's three lowest admit rates, so a rate here can be high. Fall 2025 first-year applicants and admits at UC majors with 300 or more applicants. Admits are offers of admission, not enrolled students. GPA is UC's capped weighted GPA for admitted students, at the 25th and 75th percentile. UCOP suppresses majors with fewer than 5 applicants, so the columns do not sum to a campus total. Where UCOP files one program under several names with identical counts, we show it once.

UC admits to the campus, not the major

This is the part families miss. At most UC programs a student is admitted to the campus, and the major is a preference on the application. UCOP says its own by-major numbers should be read as a general guide to selectivity and not as a predictor of an applicant's chances. A low rate in the table tells you who applied and who got in, not what the campus promised anyone.

Some programs work differently. Nursing and a few engineering, design and arts programs screen by major, and a student turned down there is often turned down for the campus as well.

Why the list is mostly Berkeley and UCLA

Both campuses draw huge application piles in every subject, so even a small department can post a single-digit rate. At UC Berkeley, Psychology drew 6,361 applicants and admitted 343, a 5% rate. Economics drew 5,345 and admitted 264, also 5%. At UCLA, Art drew 1,404 and admitted 46, a 3% rate, lower than Computer Science at the same campus, which drew 6,803 and admitted 498, a 7% rate.

That last pair is the useful lesson. A small major can be harder than a famous one, because a department with a few dozen seats fills them from whoever applies. Picking a less popular major is not a reliable way in.

What a family should do with this

Look up the campus rate first, then the major. If the major rate is much lower than the campus rate, treat the campus as a reach even when the campus rate looked comfortable. That is how we judge the colleges on a family's own list.

Then read the GPA columns. Admitted students at the hardest programs sit at the top of UC's capped weighted scale, 4.2 and above. A student below that range is not shut out, because UC reads coursework, context and the personal insight questions, but the margin is thin and it is better to know that early in high school than in the fall of senior year.

Last, apply to more than one campus. The same subject can be a 1% rate at one UC and a comfortable admit at another, and the second table shows how wide that spread runs.

Questions parents ask

What is the hardest major to get into at a UC?

The hardest major at any UC in Fall 2025 was Nursing Science at UC Irvine, which admitted 57 of 7,079 applicants, a 1% rate.

Does picking a less popular major help my student get into a UC?

A small major can be harder than a famous one, because a department with a few dozen seats fills them from whoever applies. Picking a less popular major is not a reliable way in.

What GPA do admitted students have in the hardest UC majors?

Admitted students at the hardest programs sit at the top of UC's capped weighted scale, 4.2 and above.

Method & sources: The figures are UCOP's own first-year admissions data by major for Fall 2025, as published in the University of California information center. The tables cover majors with large applicant pools, and UCOP suppresses very small cells, so the counts do not add up to a campus total; the exact floors sit in the table notes. Rows are ranked by admit rate, lowest first, and GPA is UC's capped weighted GPA for admitted students. UCOP states that these numbers are a general guide to selectivity and not a predictor of an applicant's chances.

University of California, first-year admissions by major, Fall 2025

This brief as data: /research/hardest-majors-uc.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).