UC Major
Impact Guide
There’s more to choosing your UC major than deciding what you want to study.
Your Intended Major Matters
When students first start building their college list, they usually think of choosing a major as purely an academic decision. At the UCs, it can also be an admissions decision. Because apparently choosing what you want to study for the next four years wasn’t enough pressure.
Your intended major can influence both how competitive your application is and how your application is evaluated. Some majors receive far more qualified applicants than there are available spaces, which means a student applying to Computer Science, Nursing, Engineering, Business, or another high-demand field may be entering a very different admissions landscape than a student applying to History or Sociology.
And because the UC system enjoys keeping us humble, the rules aren’t the same at every campus. Some UCs consider your intended major directly. Others care primarily when you’re applying to particular schools, colleges, or high-demand programs. At some, your specific major may not factor into the initial admission decision at all.
Notice that the second question is not: What major has the highest admit rate, and can I convincingly pretend I’ve loved it since birth?
We’ll get to that ↓Overall admit rate ≠ your admissions landscape
A UC campus’s overall admit rate is useful, but it doesn’t necessarily tell you what your particular admissions landscape looks like.
Discipline ≠ individual major
UC reports much of this data by academic discipline, not individual major.
Historical admit rate ≠ your personal probability
These are broad historical statistics, not personal probabilities. Admissions data is context, not a crystal ball.
Take Berkeley.
The overall admit rate doesn’t tell the whole story.
Same university. Very different numbers.
That doesn’t mean every Arts & Humanities applicant had a 25% chance of admission or every Engineering applicant had a 7% chance. These are broad historical statistics, not personal probabilities. Admissions data is context, not a crystal ball.
But wait! A discipline isn’t the same as a major.
There’s one important catch before we get to the charts: UC reports much of this data by academic discipline, not individual major. A discipline is a broad group of related programs.
Each of which may have a different level of competition.
One broad category, many separate programs.
Then there are majors that refuse to fit neatly anywhere. Biochemistry is a perfect example. Depends on the campus and program. Welcome to college.
Business creates its own special brand of chaos. These are not interchangeable, and they may be housed in completely different schools or colleges.
Discipline-level data gives us context, not the exact admit rate for your major. Program first. Percentage second.
Otherwise, the neat little charts are going to betray you.
Fall 2025 first-year admission rates across the UCs, reported by academic discipline.
It means we don’t have a comparable discipline-level rate in this dataset.
No, UCLA has not simply never heard of public health.
A discipline may not have been separately reported, may not have met the reporting threshold, or may have been classified differently. It also doesn’t mean I got tired halfway through or finally allowed the University of California to break my spirit.
A historical 20% admit rate does not mean you personally have a 20% chance of admission.
Use the numbers to compare the landscape, not to calculate your admissions horoscope.
Jump to your field
Computer Science
Computer Science gets its own chart because, well, of course it does. It’s one of the most popular majors among UC applicants and, at several campuses, one of the most difficult programs to enter.
This is UC’s broader Computer Science discipline. Computing-heavy majors such as Data Science, Computer Engineering, Informatics, and Software Engineering may be classified differently, so don’t automatically assume this rate applies to your specific program.
One discipline name on one application, and a 75-point spread depending on the campus. But before you start eyeing those higher numbers, keep reading.
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* UC Merced offers Computer Science and Engineering, but Computer Science wasn’t separately reported in this dataset. It does not mean UC Merced misplaced its computers.
“UCSC CS = safety.”
If every college on your list has a Computer Science admit rate somewhere between “yikes” and “absolutely not,” you haven’t built a balanced college list. You’ve built a collection of reaches.
And choosing a slightly different computing-related major doesn’t automatically solve the problem. Data Science, Computer Engineering, and other CS-adjacent programs can be extremely competitive too.
For Computer Science, we’re always going to research the actual program at the actual campus, not just the pretty percentage.
I know. More research. Devastating.
Engineering
If Computer Science gets its own warning label, Engineering deserves one too.
UC’s Engineering discipline can include Mechanical, Aerospace, Electrical, Civil, Chemical, Bioengineering, Materials, Environmental, and other Engineering programs. Your specific Engineering major may be more or less competitive than the broad rate shown here.
Same UC system. Same broad discipline. Wildly different admissions landscapes.
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Build your list around the program, not the UC name.
This is exactly why we build your college list around your intended major, not just the university name. A campus that looks like a target based on its overall admit rate might be a reach for Engineering, while expanding your UC list can give you excellent Engineering options with very different levels of selectivity.
And remember: these are still discipline-level rates. Individual Engineering majors can be more or less competitive, so we’ll research the actual program at each campus rather than assuming the percentage shown here applies to your major.
Business & Business-Related Programs
Business is where our nice, tidy discipline charts start causing problems again. UC’s “Business” category does not mean every campus offers a traditional undergraduate Business Administration major, nor does it mean the programs represented below are equivalent.
Depending on the campus, this category can include Business Administration, Business Economics, Managerial Economics, and other business-related fields. Some programs that sound very business-y may also be classified elsewhere. Apparently, “What counts as Business?” is its own research question.
Same discipline label. Not necessarily the same program.
Before you compare Riverside’s 91% with Berkeley’s 5% and announce that you’ve cracked the UC admissions code, make sure you’re actually comparing the programs you think you’re comparing.
Berkeley has a direct-entry undergraduate business program through Haas. Irvine offers Business Administration through Merage, and Davis now has an undergraduate Business major. Meanwhile, UCLA and Santa Barbara don’t offer traditional undergraduate Business Administration programs, even though applicants there appear within UC’s broader Business discipline.
And Economics isn't automatically the same thing as Business. Business Economics, Managerial Economics, Economics, and Business Administration can have different curricula, live in different colleges, and be treated differently in admissions.
So don’t choose based on the percentage alone. Figure out what the actual program is and whether you actually want to study it.
I know. Reading the program description before choosing the program. Groundbreaking stuff.
Life Sciences
Life Sciences is an especially important category for my future doctors, dentists, veterinarians, researchers, and the approximately six million UC applicants who tell me they’re majoring in Biology every year.
This broad category can include Biology, Molecular and Cell Biology, Microbiology, Genetics, Neuroscience, Human Biology, and related fields. Individual majors may be more or less competitive, so check your actual program.
If you’re a future pre-med staring exclusively at the 13% and 16% at the top of this chart, I need you to keep scrolling.
First, you don't need to attend UCLA or Berkeley to become a doctor. Medical schools care about your college performance, prerequisite coursework, MCAT, clinical experience, research, service, and the overall strength of your application. There isn’t a secret pre-med ingredient available only in Westwood and Berkeley that everyone else forgot to order.
2Second, “I’m pre-med” does not mean “I need to major in Biology.” Pre-med is an academic track, not a major. You can major in Biology because you genuinely love Biology, but you can also study Chemistry, Psychology, Public Health, Anthropology, English, or something else while completing your prerequisites.
3Finally, look at the range in the chart. A Life Sciences list consisting only of UCLA, Berkeley, Irvine, and San Diego looks very different from one that also includes Davis, Santa Cruz, Riverside, or Merced.
Your future medical career may need to begin with the radical act of adding a target.
Physical Sciences & Math
Physical Sciences & Math is a useful reminder that “STEM” is not one giant admissions category. A student applying to Chemistry, Physics, or Mathematics may be looking at a very different admissions landscape from someone applying to Computer Science or Engineering, even though everyone involved will spend an alarming amount of time doing problem sets.
This category can include Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Statistics, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Applied Mathematics, and related fields. Majors like Biochemistry and Data Science are especially good examples of programs you should research individually rather than assuming you know where UC classified them.
Same campus. Same application. Three very different numbers.
Periwinkle marks Physical Sciences & Math. All three are discipline-level rates.
“STEM is STEM, right?”
Compare this with Computer Science and Engineering and you can see why telling me “I want to go into STEM” is about as useful for college-list strategy as telling me you’d like to attend “a school with buildings.”
That does not mean you should abandon Engineering and suddenly announce that theoretical physics has been your calling all along. And please don’t apply for Physics when what you actually want is Computer Science because you’re planning to “just switch later.” Depending on the campus, that switch may require prerequisites, a certain GPA, another application, space availability, or possibly divine intervention.
Pick the field you actually want to study. Then we’ll build the strategy around it.
Public Health
Public Health is a perfect example of a major students sometimes assume will be less competitive because it isn’t Computer Science, Engineering, or Nursing. The admissions data would like to have a word.
Public Health can include programs focused on population health, health policy, epidemiology, community health, health disparities, and related areas. Not every UC offers it in the same form, and related majors may be classified elsewhere.
3,415 first-year applicants. 74 admitted.
One hundred squares, each standing for roughly 34 applicants. The 74 admitted students fill about two of them. The squares are proportional, not individual people.
N/A: UCLA · Davis · Santa Barbara · Santa Cruz · Riverside
N/A doesn’t mean the campus doesn’t offer Public Health or a related program. It means we don’t have a comparable discipline-level rate in this dataset.
“But it’s not Engineering or CS!”
Can we discuss that 2% at Berkeley for a moment?
Public Health is enormously popular among students interested in medicine, healthcare, policy, health equity, and interdisciplinary science. So “But it’s not Engineering or CS!” is not an admissions strategy.
That also doesn’t mean every future healthcare student should apply to Public Health. Depending on what you actually want to study, Public Health, Global Health, Human Biology, Health Policy, Sociology, or another related program might genuinely fit.
The key word is genuinely. We’re exploring related programs because they might fit what you want to study, not because we’re playing Which Dropdown Option Has the Biggest Percentage?
If Berkeley Public Health is your dream program, take your shot. We’re just going to make sure the rest of your college list doesn’t also require me to squint at the admit rates.
Nursing
And now we arrive at Nursing, where the admit rates stop looking like percentages and start looking like clerical errors.
For students seeking a direct-entry undergraduate Nursing program, UCLA and UC Irvine are the two UC campuses we’re primarily talking about here. Because Nursing programs have limited clinical capacity, they operate in a very different admissions universe from most UC majors.
31 admitted from roughly 5,700 applicants
57 admitted from just over 7,000 applicants
If you’ve seen UCLA and Irvine reported elsewhere at approximately 1%, that’s because the discipline-level data rounds the percentages. Other UC campuses: N/A.
So, yes. Less than one percent. Both of them.
There’s really no clever interpretation required here. Undergraduate Nursing at UCLA and UC Irvine is bonkers competitive.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply. If one of these programs is a great fit, absolutely take your shot. It means we’re going to understand what kind of shot we’re taking.
More importantly, if Nursing is your goal, your college list cannot consist entirely of UC campuses. We need direct-entry Nursing programs where you’d actually be happy, with a realistic range of admission probabilities. We’ll also pay close attention to whether a college admits students directly to Nursing or requires them to apply to the program later because those are very different propositions.
“It’s okay, I’ll just go to UCLA undeclared and switch into Nursing later.”
No. That is not our plan. Please slowly back away from the dropdown menu.
Psychology
Psychology gets its own section because it’s one of the most popular majors among Grey Admissions students, and yet UC has declined to give us a nice, clean systemwide Psychology chart. Of course they have. We were getting far too comfortable.
Psychology is generally included within UC’s broader Social Sciences discipline, so the available discipline-level percentages aren’t Psychology admit rates. In this case, the campus-specific information is much more useful.
Davis currently identifies Psychology as one of its most selective majors.
Irvine also identifies Psychology as one of its most selective majors within the School of Social Sciences.
UCSD lists Psychology among its high-interest majors, though it isn’t currently one of the majors formally designated as selective.
Psychology is housed within The College, and UCLA doesn’t consider your specific major when reviewing first-year applicants to The College. Selecting Psychology doesn’t put you into a separate Psychology pool simply because the major is popular.
“Psychology is Psychology, right?”
Not for admissions purposes.
That’s why I don’t want you using a generic Social Sciences percentage to declare Psychology a reach, target, or safety. We need to research Psychology campus by campus.
At Davis and Irvine, Psychology is specifically identified as highly selective. At UC San Diego, it’s a high-interest major without the same formal selective designation. At UCLA, Psychology sits within The College, where your specific major isn’t considered in first-year admission.
I know. You thought selecting the same major nine times on one application meant we were dealing with one admissions system.
That was adorable.
“So… should I just apply to an easier major?”
I knew we were going to get here.
You’ve now seen that some academic areas have much higher historical admit rates than others. So the obvious question is: Why not apply to a less competitive major, get into the UC I want, and switch into my actual major later?
Because I regret to inform you that thousands of other teenagers have discovered this ingenious loophole. The universities are aware.
At some campuses, switching majors after you enroll is relatively straightforward. At others, changing into a high-demand program can require prerequisites, a minimum GPA, another application, space availability, or possibly divine intervention. Some programs don’t let you switch in at all.
There’s also a more basic problem with this strategy: you might actually have to study the major you selected.
If you genuinely have multiple academic interests, that’s different. Maybe you’d be equally happy studying Biology or Public Health, Economics or Political Science, Chemistry or Biochemistry. Great! We can absolutely think strategically about which genuinely appealing program makes the most sense at each campus.
Discovering a lifelong passion for Comparative Literature because you found a promising percentage on the internet at 11:47 PM.
Your intended major should fit your actual interests and be something you’d genuinely be willing to study if you enroll.
Choose strategically, absolutely. Just don’t build your strategy around the assumption that Future You can switch into a completely different program later.
Your Alternate Major Matters Too
The UC application allows you to select an alternate major, but whether that alternate actually helps is another one of those charming little details the nine UCs have decided to handle completely differently.
If a campus considers alternates, choose something you’d genuinely study and something that gives the university a meaningfully different second option to consider.
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Choosing Computer Science and then another highly competitive computing program isn’t necessarily a backup plan. You’ve thrown the same net six inches to the left.
If a campus considers alternate majors, use the opportunity strategically. Your alternate should be something you’d actually be happy studying while giving the university a meaningfully different option for considering you.
But don’t invent an alternate purely because you think it’ll be easier to get into either. There is always a chance the university will actually expect you to study the thing you applied for.
And if you’re applying to Berkeley or UCLA, you can stop agonizing over which alternate will secretly improve your odds.
It won’t. Go work on your PIQs.