Community College to UC San Diego:Admission and Majors

Close to half of community college applicants to UC San Diego are admitted overall, but results vary widely by major. According to official UC data, 26,339 students applied to transfer to UC San Diego for fall 2026 and 12,473 were admitted, an admit rate of 47.4%. Of those admitted, 89.3% came from California Community Colleges. UC San Diego does not participate in the Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG), and engineering, data science, and public health are selective majors. In the assessment of EDUBUS advisors, this campus is a realistic primary target for students in non-selective majors and closer to a reach for students in engineering and computer science.

Transfer Admission Data

This section shows how competitive UC San Diego is overall. The table below presents preliminary official UC data for fall 2026 (as of June 2026).

Item	Fall 2026
Applicants	26,339
Admits	12,473
Admit rate	47.4%
Share of admits from California Community Colleges	89.3%

The fall 2026 transfer profile published by UC San Diego Undergraduate Admissions shows a middle 50% GPA of 3.61 to 3.95. The admissions office also states that the minimum GPA for eligibility is 2.4 for California residents and 2.8 for nonresidents, but admitted students usually have GPAs well above this threshold.

Selective Majors and Prerequisites

This section identifies the majors that require specified preparation courses. UC San Diego Undergraduate Admissions lists a group of majors that require completion of major preparation coursework, including Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Data Science, Economics, Engineering, Mathematics, and Public Health. Applicants to these majors are screened on the number of courses completed, the grades earned in those courses, and overall GPA. All minimum preparation coursework must be completed by the end of the spring term before enrollment.

Target major	Type	Courses and grade requirements to complete before transfer
Computer Science	Selective major (Jacobs School of Engineering)	Math courses equivalent to MATH 18 and MATH 20A through 20C; one designated science course; courses equivalent to CSE 11, CSE 12, and CSE 20
Mechanical Engineering	Selective major (Jacobs School of Engineering)	Math courses equivalent to MATH 18 and MATH 20A through 20D; one general chemistry course; three physics courses
Economics	Preparation coursework required	Two introductory economics courses and two calculus courses; C- or higher in each, with a GPA of at least 2.3 in this group of courses
Business Economics	Preparation coursework required (Rady School of Management)	Two calculus courses, one introductory economics course, and management courses equivalent to MGT 45 or MGT 4 and MGT 5; C- or higher in each, with a GPA of at least 2.3 in this group of courses
Biological Sciences (all majors)	Preparation coursework required	Two biology courses, three general chemistry courses with labs, and two calculus courses; C- or higher in each, with a GPA of at least 2.5 in this group of courses
Psychology	Not on the screening list	Psychology does not appear on the list of screened majors published by the admissions office and is reviewed under general transfer requirements

All of the rules above come from the UC San Diego Undergraduate Admissions transfer major preparation page and application requirements page. The admissions office strongly recommends that applicants to selective majors also list a non-selective alternate major. UC San Diego does not admit transfer students as undeclared, so students without an alternate major may not be admitted.

TAG

UC San Diego does not participate in TAG. For the fall 2027 admission cycle, TAG is offered only by six campuses: Davis, Irvine, Merced, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. See Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) for details.

UC San Diego has two local transfer programs, but both have a narrow scope.

• UniversityLinkOpen to nine partner community colleges in San Diego and Imperial counties, such as MiraCosta College and Palomar College. Eligible students receive guaranteed admission to UC San Diego, but not guaranteed admission to a selective major. Applicants generally must have an annual family income below $40,000 and maintain a UC GPA of 3.5. International students are not eligible.
• Pathway to Transfer SuccessA support program for community college students in San Diego and Imperial counties that offers one-on-one advising, writing workshops, and campus events. The official website does not mention an admission guarantee.

Community colleges in the Irvine area are not on the partner lists for either program, so students in Irvine usually apply through the regular process.

Application Timeline and Materials

This section lists the key dates for fall 2027 admission and the arrangements specific to UC San Diego.

• October 1 to November 30, 2026Submit the UC application, complete the personal insight questions (PIQ), and rank up to four undergraduate colleges.
• January 31, 2027Submit the Transfer Academic Update (TAU).
• By April 30, 2027UC San Diego releases transfer admission decisions in the applicant portal.
• May 15, 2027Students invited to the waitlist must opt in by this date; waitlist decisions are released by July 31.
• June 1, 2027Deadline for admitted students to accept the offer of admission.

Applicants to music, theater and dance, and visual arts majors may choose to submit a portfolio or audition video. General education requirements differ among UC San Diego’s undergraduate colleges. Cal-GETC certification, the general education transfer pattern for California Community Colleges, satisfies the lower-division general education requirements of most colleges, but Revelle College has additional math and science requirements.

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