Research · Research · November 2026

UCLA Acceptance Rate 2026: 10.8% for Fall 2026, and What It Takes to Get In

As of November 2026: UCLA admitted 10.8 percent of fall 2026 first-year applicants in preliminary UC data (15,903 offers from 146,692 applicants, as of June 17, 2026), up from a final 9.4 percent for fall 2025. The middle half of fall 2026 admits had a UC GPA of 4.2 to 4.3, and 57.3 percent of first-year admits were California residents.

We read the UC's own numbers on UCLA: the fall 2026 rate, the trend since 2017, residency, GPA bands, top feeder high schools, majors and the fall 2027 deadline.

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

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UCLA fall 2026 admissions (preliminary)

The UC's preliminary fall 2026 numbers for UCLA, with offers counted as of June 17, 2026.

Source: UC Office of the President admissions fact sheet, fall 2026. The GPA columns show the middle half of admitted students' UC GPA (capped weighted). The California share is the share of first-year admits who are California residents.

UCLA first-year applicants, admits and admit rate, fall 2017 to fall 2025

Final numbers for each fall term, with all three residency groups added together.

Source: UC Office of the President, first-year applicants and admits by residency. Totals are the three residency groups added together for each fall term.

UCLA admit rate by residency, fall 2017 to fall 2025

California residents, out-of-state students and international students, every year in the UC table.

Source: UC Office of the President, first-year applicants and admits by residency.

UCLA admits and admit rate by UC GPA band, fall 2025

Final fall 2025 numbers by UC GPA (capped weighted).

Source: UC Office of the President, fall 2025 first-year admits by GPA band. Admit rate is admits divided by applicants in that band. 'Unknown - Missing' means applicants with no UC GPA on file.

UCLA admit rate by residency and GPA band, fall 2025

The same GPA band, side by side for California residents, out-of-state students and international students.

Source: UC Office of the President, fall 2025 first-year applicants and admits by residency and GPA band. Admit rate is admits divided by applicants, both from the same UCOP table.

California high schools with the most UCLA admits, fall 2025

Ranked by admits. Click a school to open its High School Reach page.

Source: UC Information Center, fall 2025 first-year applicants, admits and enrollees by California high school, via High School Reach. Ranked by admits. A student admitted to several UC campuses is counted at each campus.

UCLA admit rate and admit GPA by broad discipline, fall 2025

Final fall 2025 numbers by the broad discipline students chose.

Source: UC Office of the President, first-year admission by broad discipline, fall 2025. UCOP says this data 'should be used as a general guide to selectivity and not as a predictor of an applicant's chances.' Disciplines with fewer than 5 applicants or 3 admits are suppressed, so columns do not sum to the campus total.

What is UCLA's acceptance rate for fall 2026?

UCLA's acceptance rate for fall 2026 is 10.8 percent, based on preliminary UC data with offers counted as of June 17, 2026. That figure comes from 15,903 offers of admission out of 146,692 first-year applicants.

The UC Office of the President labels the fall 2026 numbers preliminary. The fall 2025 numbers are final, and they are the base for most of the tables on this page. Each time we quote a figure, we say which fall it belongs to, so you can keep the years apart.

The fall 2026 rate is higher than the final fall 2025 rate of 9.4 percent. It also matches the 10.8 percent rate from fall 2021. UCLA made 15,903 offers for fall 2026, compared with 13,659 admits for fall 2025. Applicants went from 145,059 for fall 2025 to 146,692 for fall 2026.

For a family, the plain reading is that UCLA still turns down most of the students who apply. Even at 10.8 percent, a strong student needs a balanced list of other colleges. We treat UCLA as a reach for nearly every student, and we plan around that from the start.

How many students apply to UCLA each year?

UCLA drew 146,692 first-year applicants for fall 2026, and the highest count in our fall 2017 to fall 2025 table is 149,801, for fall 2022.

The applicant count was much smaller a few years ago. UCLA had 102,194 applicants for fall 2017 and 108,866 for fall 2020. Then the count jumped to 139,482 for fall 2021. The UC data shows that jump, but it does not give a reason for it, so we do not guess at one.

Since fall 2022, the count has held steady. UCLA had 145,900 applicants for fall 2023, 146,270 for fall 2024 and 145,059 for fall 2025. The preliminary fall 2026 count of 146,692 sits right in that same range.

Each yearly total in our table adds the three residency groups together: California residents, out-of-state students and international students. For a family, the main point is the size of the crowd. Your student will be one of a very large group of applicants, so every part of the application should be clear, complete and in the student's own voice.

How has UCLA's acceptance rate changed since 2017?

UCLA's acceptance rate fell from 16.1 percent in fall 2017 to 9.4 percent in fall 2025.

The drop was not a straight line. The rate went from 16.1 percent in fall 2017 to 14.0 percent in fall 2018 and 12.3 percent in fall 2019. It then rose to 14.3 percent in fall 2020, before falling to 10.8 percent in fall 2021.

The low point came in fall 2022, at 8.6 percent. After that, the rate rose each year: 8.7 percent in fall 2023, 9.0 percent in fall 2024 and 9.4 percent in fall 2025. The preliminary fall 2026 rate of 10.8 percent continues that rise, though it is not final yet.

The number of admits moved less than the number of applicants. UCLA admitted 16,451 students for fall 2017 and 12,736 for fall 2023, the fewest in the table. For fall 2025, it admitted 13,659 students.

For a family, the trend suggests the hardest years may be just behind us, but only by a little. A rate of 9.4 percent for fall 2025 is still a long shot for any single student, no matter how strong.

Is it harder to get into UCLA from out of state?

For fall 2025, out-of-state applicants had the highest UCLA admit rate at 11.2 percent, compared with 9.6 percent for California residents and 6.3 percent for international applicants.

That order has a longer history. In fall 2017, the out-of-state rate was 23.3 percent, the California rate was 14.6 percent and the international rate was 12.9 percent. The out-of-state rate then fell much faster than the rates for the other groups.

There are several exceptions to the pattern of out-of-state applicants doing best. Out-of-state applicants had a lower rate than California residents in fall 2022 (8.9 percent versus 9.2 percent), in fall 2023 (8.6 percent versus 9.5 percent) and in fall 2024 (9.2 percent versus 9.5 percent). In every other year from 2017 to 2025, the out-of-state rate was the higher one.

International applicants had the lowest rate of the three groups in every year in the table. Their rate fell from 12.9 percent in fall 2017 to 5.7 percent in fall 2022, and it stood at 6.3 percent in fall 2025.

Rates tell only part of the story. For fall 2025, UCLA admitted 8,589 California residents from 89,349 applicants, 3,544 out-of-state students from 31,573 applicants, and 1,526 international students from 24,137 applicants. California residents were the largest group of admits by far. The data shows these rates, not the reasons behind them.

How many UCLA admits are California residents?

For fall 2026, 9,109 of UCLA's 15,903 first-year admits were California residents, a share of 57.3 percent in the preliminary data.

This share comes straight from the UC fact sheet for fall 2026. It counts admits, not applicants, and not the students who later enroll. Because the fall 2026 data is preliminary, the share reflects offers as of June 17, 2026.

The count of California admits has stayed in a fairly narrow band over time. UCLA admitted 9,284 California residents for fall 2017, 9,205 for fall 2020 and 8,425 for fall 2022. For fall 2025, the count was 8,589, out of 13,659 total admits.

For California families, this is good news in one sense: most UCLA admits are still California residents. For families outside California, it means the out-of-state and international groups are smaller, even in a year when the out-of-state admit rate is higher. Either way, the seats are limited, and a strong plan B matters.

What GPA do you need to get into UCLA?

For fall 2025, UCLA admitted 15.1 percent of applicants with a UC GPA of 4.00 and above, and that band held 12,548 admits.

Below 4.00, the rates fall off sharply. Applicants with a UC GPA of 3.70 to 3.99 had a 1.6 percent rate and 449 admits. The 3.30 to 3.69 band had a 0.5 percent rate and 95 admits. The 3.00 to 3.29 band had a 0.3 percent rate and 18 admits.

There is one exception to that steady slide. The lowest band, 0.00 to 2.99, had a 0.4 percent rate and 12 admits, a slightly higher rate than the 3.00 to 3.29 band. The admit counts in both bands are very small, so we would not read much into it.

The table also has a group called Unknown - Missing. These are applicants with no UC GPA on file. UCLA admitted 537 of them for fall 2025, at a 6.9 percent rate.

The preliminary fall 2026 numbers point the same way. The middle half of admitted students had a UC GPA of 4.2 to 4.3. The UC GPA is a capped weighted GPA, with honors points capped at 8 semesters. It is its own measure, so we never place it on the same scale as an unweighted GPA. For a family, the lesson is that a UC GPA of 4.00 or above is close to a must, but it is no promise. The 15.1 percent rate in that band means most of those applicants were not admitted.

At the same GPA, does UCLA favor California residents?

No: in fall 2025, out-of-state applicants had a higher UCLA admit rate than California residents in every GPA band, from 13.7 percent versus 10.0 percent below 3.80 to 25.9 percent versus 21.3 percent at 4.20 and above.

This table uses its own GPA bands, and they do not line up with the bands in the GPA table above. We read each table on its own and do not mix them.

For California residents, the rate barely moved across the middle bands. It was 10.0 percent below 3.80, 9.8 percent at 3.80 to 3.90, 9.5 percent at 3.90 to 4.00 and 9.9 percent at 4.00 to 4.10. It rose to 12.5 percent at 4.10 to 4.20 and 21.3 percent at 4.20 and above. That top band is small, with 47 applicants and 10 admits.

International applicants had a higher rate than California residents in the 3.90 to 4.00 band (10.7 percent versus 9.5 percent) and in the 4.00 to 4.10 band (11.5 percent versus 9.9 percent). In every other band, their rate was below the California rate.

The rates do not always climb with GPA, and there is more than one exception. International applicants below 3.80 had an 8.5 percent rate, higher than their 4.2 percent rate at 3.80 to 3.90. Out-of-state applicants at 3.90 to 4.00 had a 14.2 percent rate, lower than their 14.8 percent rate at 3.80 to 3.90. Out-of-state applicants at 4.00 to 4.10 had a 12.4 percent rate, lower than both of those. And California residents dipped from 10.0 percent below 3.80 to 9.5 percent at 3.90 to 4.00.

The table shows rates, not the reasons for them. For a California family, the takeaway is that, in this data, being a resident did not come with a higher admit rate at the same GPA.

Which California high schools send the most students to UCLA?

Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego had the most UCLA admits among California high schools in fall 2025, with 44 admits from 380 applicants.

Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon came next, with 42 admits from 555 applicants, the most applicants of any school in our list. Granada Hills Charter High School and Arcadia High School each had 39 admits. Granada Hills had 26 students enroll at UCLA, the most of any school in the list.

Two schools stand out from the pattern. Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana is the only school in the list marked as a charter school, and it had 38 admits from 240 applicants, the fewest applicants in the list. Troy High School in Fullerton had 34 admits but only 9 students enrolled, the fewest enrolled in the list.

Mira Costa, Palisades Charter, American, Dublin, Diamond Bar, Berkeley, Santa Monica, Amador Valley and Monta Vista round out the list, with 28 to 37 admits each. The list is ranked by admits. In this data, a student admitted to several UC campuses is counted at each campus.

Even at these schools, most applicants were not admitted. Canyon Crest had 44 admits from 380 applicants, and Dougherty Valley had 42 admits from 555 applicants. You can open each school's page on High School Reach from the table to see more of its numbers.

Which majors are hardest to get into at UCLA?

Nursing was the hardest UCLA discipline to get into for fall 2025, admitting 1 percent of applicants, or 31 admits from 5,668 applicants.

Computer Science, Engineering and Undeclared shared the next lowest rate, at 7 percent each. Education was at 8 percent. Arts & Humanities, Business and Social Sciences each sat at 9 percent, and Other Health Science was at 10 percent.

At the other end, Physical Sciences/Math had the highest rate, at 15 percent. Public Admin was at 14 percent, and Life Sciences and Other/Interdisciplinary were each at 13 percent.

Admitted GPAs were high in every discipline. Computer Science and Engineering both had a low-end admit GPA of 4.25, and Arts & Humanities had the lowest low end, at 4.04. The high end ran from 4.28 to 4.32 across the disciplines.

The UC admits to the campus, not the major, except at capped or impacted programs. UCOP says this data 'should be used as a general guide to selectivity and not as a predictor of an applicant's chances.' Disciplines with fewer than 5 applicants or 3 admits are suppressed, so the columns do not add up to the campus total.

For a family, we suggest picking a major because the student truly wants to study it, not because of its admit rate.

Does UCLA require the SAT or ACT?

No: the UC has been test-blind since fall 2021, so UCLA does not read SAT or ACT scores.

That is all we need to say about tests for UCLA. The tables on this page measure UC GPA, residency, high school and major, so that is where we put our attention.

For a family focused on UCLA, this changes how to spend time. The hours that might go to test prep for UCLA are better spent on the courses that build the UC GPA.

What can a family do to improve the odds at UCLA?

Start with the UC GPA: for fall 2025, 12,548 UCLA admits had a UC GPA of 4.00 and above, and that band's admit rate was 15.1 percent.

The UC GPA is a capped weighted GPA, with honors points capped at 8 semesters. That makes course rigor part of the GPA itself. We suggest mapping out honors and other demanding courses early in high school, so the student builds the GPA over time rather than trying to fix it late.

Next, give the Personal Insight Questions real time. We suggest starting drafts well before the fall of senior year, so there is room to write, set the work aside, and revise. The answers should sound like the student, in plain words.

Then apply to several UC campuses, not just UCLA. One UC application covers every campus the student selects, and each campus decides on its own. Our UC acceptance rate by campus page shows how the campuses compare.

Finally, choose a major with care. The fall 2025 rates ran from 1 percent in Nursing to 15 percent in Physical Sciences/Math. Those rates are a general guide, not a prediction, so let real interest lead the choice.

When is the UCLA application deadline for fall 2027?

The deadline to apply to UCLA for fall 2027 is November 30, 2026, at the end of a UC application window that opens October 1, 2026.

The UC has no early action or early decision round. Every student applies in the same window, from October 1 to November 30, 2026. One UC application covers every campus the student selects, and each campus decides on its own.

For a family, the window is short. We suggest having Personal Insight Question drafts and a final campus list ready before October 1, 2026, so the weeks in the window go to polishing, not starting from scratch. Aim to finish well before November 30, 2026, so a last-minute problem does not put the application at risk.

Related: UC acceptance rate by campus, fall 2026 · UC admissions by GPA, residency and major · UCLA on High School Reach · California high school rankings by UC Reach Score