UC San Diego Admissions 2026: Requirements, Application Deadlines & Fees

Students who are not sure about the UCSD admission must be aware of the facts, like the University of California, San Diego is one of the top 20 research universities. According to the official fact, over 1.36L students have applied for admission in Fall 2025. Of which more than 34,000 undergraduate and 9,872 graduate and professional students get admission.

The university comprises over 140 UCSD courses for international students. Some of the most chosen fields are Fine Arts, Engineering, Health Science, Science, Social Science and Humanities. With 26:1 students faculty ratio, the programs are delivered by excellent teachers.

The tuition fees for undergraduate program is between INR 28 L and INR 47 L, where the tuition range for the postgraduate program is between INR 22L and INR 69L.

As per an unofficial source, the UCSD acceptance rate is 27%. This means the university is tough to enter. The university considers some factors during admission. Some of them are test scores, curriculum quality, academic performance, class rank, and work experience.

Read more: Student Guide to USA for International Students

University of California San Diego Admissions 2026 Highlights

International students can fill their application through official university portal. The university portal for undergraduate, graduate and MBA programs are different. In all cases, students have to submit some important documents with their personal details. They need to pay University of California San Diego application fee to submit their application. Students can check the basic UCSD admission requirements from the table below:

Undergraduate students who want to take University of California, San Diego admission must apply through the official portal given for UG programs, and fill in the necessary information before the deadline ends. The application deadline for UG students is Dec 1, 2026 for Fall. Students who are interested in any master's program must visit the official page of the chosen program. They can check the application deadline, eligibility criteria, and basic and program-specific requirements. The graduate students should have a bachelor’s degree from a university. Undergraduate students need to submit a high school diploma or equivalent.

University of California San Diego Application Deadlines

International students can apply through official portals. However, the application portals for UG, master's, and MBA students is slightly different. Students can check the undergraduate and masters application deadline below:

MBA students can take admission in various rounds at UCSD. The round 1 application deadline for international students is closed now. Students can check the application deadline for the remaining rounds below:

Also Read: Admission Intakes in US Universities

Students who want to join University of California San Diego must follow the application process. The University of California San Diego application process for undergraduate and graduate programs is given below:

• First, UG and PG students must visit the official portal of the university to know more about the chosen program. They can make a list of documents required along with the eligibility.
• Next, they can start filling the form by uploading the necessary documents and filling all the personal and academic details.
• Third, they need to submit all the admission requirements as per the below document checklist.

Document checklist:

• Now, students need to pay the application fee to apply. The UCSD application fee for UG is USD 95 (INR 8.4K) and MS programs is USD 155 (INR 13K), and MBA students need to submit USD 200 (INR 17K) for the application.
• Lastly, students need to wait for the response. The university usually responds within a month.

Read more: When to start your application process to US Universities?

As per the University of California San Diego enrollment data 2025, over 134,455 students applied for different programs, out of which more than 7,330 students enrolled in their desired program. This means the acceptance criteria is quite tough for admission. International students can check the table below for University of California San Diego enrollment statistics: