Applying as a First-year student at UC
UC has grown and added more students to its schools in the past few years. This is why applying as a first-year student is challenging. Please know if you’ll be accepted into one of the UC schools before you use it. Otherwise, you could save an application fee or, even worse, lose out on your dream school!
Filling out the application
The UC application can be found on the UC website. It’s available in October and must be submitted by November 30 for first-year applicants or January 1 for transfer students.
The application is only available online, but there are versions translated into English, Spanish and Chinese, and other languages may be available through the UC International Office.
Dates & deadlines
- Deadlines: The UC system requires you to submit your application by the deadline of November 30 for early decision and January 1 for regular decision. If you miss these deadlines, you can still apply at a higher cost–and with less time to complete all the requirements.* Early Decision: Students who apply early decision are binding themselves to attend that school if admitted. If accepted, they must withdraw all other applications within one week after notification from their first choice school.* Regular Decision: Students who apply for regular decision do not need to make any commitments about where they will attend if admitted; however, there is no guarantee that they will be accepted into any program or college within their chosen university system
Personal insight questions
Personal insight questions are used to assess your character, motivation and potential. They are not as important as your grades, but they do matter. The unique insight questions help the admissions office find students who will contribute to the diversity of UC campuses by sharing their experiences with others from different backgrounds.
For example: “What do you want people to know about you that is not already obvious from looking at your application?” or “Describe a moment when someone helped inspire or motivate you.”
How applications are reviewed
After the application is submitted, it will be reviewed by a committee in your intended major. The review process is confidential and based on your grades, test scores and personal insight questions. In addition to these factors, colleges look at extracurricular activities on your application and other information about you that may be included (such as letters of recommendation).
After you apply
Once you’ve applied, it’s time to wait. You may be tempted to check on the status of your application every day–don’t do this! Checking too frequently will only increase stress and make it harder for us to contact you if we need more information. Instead, try setting up an alert on MyUCLA so that we’ll email you when something changes in your application.
Once admitted students have been notified that they’ve been accepted into the University of California system (this can take several weeks), they must confirm their intent to enrol within two weeks or forfeit their spot at UC Berkeley! Once again, don’t worry about this until we inform you via email that it’s time for final decisions; we’ll let everyone know when precisely those two weeks begin so there will be no surprises later on down the line.
Remember to apply!
The admission application deadline is November 30 but take your time. Apply early and check your status frequently to understand how things are going as soon as possible. If accepted, you can pay your deposit and secure housing before it’s too late!
Remember to apply!
