UC Santa Cruz Academic Program: Admission Requirements And Acceptance Rate

The University of California – Santa Cruz is a public university located in Santa Cruz, CA, and is one of the ten campuses included in the University of California system.

The university, founded back in 1965 and chosen to be a part of the UC system for its beautiful location rather than the practicality of the geography, was accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Senior College, and University Commission. UC Santa Cruz offers students Bachelor’s degrees, post-baccalaureate Certificates, Master’s degrees, and a doctorate in over 60 fields. The university is noted for its Psychology program, but the most extensive programs in the school are Biology/Biomedical fields and Social Sciences. 

The university, with about 2,000-acre campus, just 5 miles from the coast in the Ben Lomond Mountain ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains, features large open spaces, creeks, and ravines and comprises ten residential colleges: Cowell College, Stevenson College, Crown College, Merrill College, Porter College, Kresge College, Oakes College, College Eight, College Nine and College Ten. 

UC Santa Cruz’s goal aligns well with its vision statement to benefit a research university with the intimacy of a smaller school.

The Vision Statement reads, “UC Santa Cruz is a world-class research university with an extraordinary commitment to society and the success of our students. Our research propels human knowledge, understanding, and creativity forward through a shared spirit of innovation and discovery. Our students join in this experience through our outstanding academic programs, broad student research opportunities, and varied extracurricular activities. An uncommon dedication to diversity, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship pervades all that we do.”

Students Life at UC Santa Cruz

UC Santa Cruz has over 16,000 undergraduate students enrolled, many of whom live on campus among the residence communities associated with the colleges. Student life is a lot of fun as the university usually sponsors dozens of clubs and student organizations, including club sports and intramurals. 

Examples are the USCS blue and gold Banana Slugs, field teams in 7 different sports, and also participate in the NCAA Division III competition. 

Read: LMU Acceptance Rate and Admission Requirements

University of California Santa Cruz Admissions

International applicants are charged a non-refundable application fee of 80 USD and offer admission to different courses in liberal arts along with major research programs. Admission is usually in the fall semester (November 30).

The UC Santa Cruz expects candidates to provide the stipulated English language proficiency test scores while applying for admission if their primary language is not English.

Along with the application fee, international applicants are also required to have:

  • Secondary school grade achievements with high marks or grades.
  • IELTS score of 6.5 and
  • TOEFL score of 80.

Note: Applicants are prohibited from sending additional documents, copies of academic records and awards.

The graduate admission exams require into specific graduates program are:

  • GRE is required by most of the graduate schools of the university.
  • Graduate business schools require GMAT scores.
  • LSAT scores are required for law schools.
  • The medical schools require MCAT scores.
  • DAT is required by dental schools.
  • PCAT is required by many pharmacy schools.
  • OAT is required for the optometry courses.

The university has a holistic approach in the student selection process called the comprehensive review to inspect the eligibility of the candidates.

Admission decisions are approved based on a single exclusive area; that is, they examine how hard the candidate has worked in utilizing the opportunities available in their school, community and extracurricular activities and does not require SAT or ACT scores mandatorily for admission.

UC Santa Cruz Acceptance Rate – Fall 2020

The University of California-Santa Cruz maintains an acceptance rate of 52%. A total of 59 majors are available for undergraduate students of the university, while the graduates can study in 41 academic concentrations.

During Fall 2020, a 51.3% acceptance rate was reported. 55,800 college applications were submitted to the university, including the state and out-of-state applicants.

The historical trend chart shows acceptance rates from the previous years, from which we have projected the acceptance rate for the 2021-2022 school year. The overall acceptance rate trend for the University of California-Santa Cruz has been getting lower. 

However, when compared to averages from previous years, the overall acceptance rate trend for the University of California-Santa Cruz has been getting lower:

UC Santa Cruz Acceptance Rate By Year

2016-2017: 57.9%

2017-2018: 50.9%

2018-2019: 47.4%

2019-2020: 51.3%

Projected UC Santa Cruz Acceptance Rate 2021-2022: 47.4%

What is the acceptance rate of the University of California Santa Cruz?

The acceptance rate of the University of California Santa Cruz is 52%.

What is the application deadline for admission to the University of California Santa Cruz?

November 30 is the standard application deadline for admission to the University of California Santa Cruz.

How much is the application fee for the students at the University of California Santa Cruz?

The application fee for the international students in the university is 80 USD

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