The University of California San Diego UCSD is a public university established in 1960. UCSD campus is the 7th oldest of the University of California's 10 campuses. Ranked at #53 according to QS Global Rankings, 2023, the University of California San Diego offers programs across 2 professional medical schools, 6 different residential colleges, and 3 graduate schools. UC San Diego received more than 140,000 applications for fall 2021, ranking second in the country as the most enrolled school. The university enrolls approximately 8,000 graduate students and 30,800 undergraduates each year.

Admission to the University of California, San Diego is highly selective, with an acceptance rate of 38%. Students need a minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (~83-86%) to secure admission to UC San Diego. However, the average GPA of an accepted student is 3.82 on a 4.0 scale (~92-93%). 

The average cost of attendance at UC San Diego is around 48 lakhs. This includes a tuition fee of 11.2 lakhs and a Supplemental tuition fee of nearly 23 lakhs for international students. California is the most expensive state for accommodation, with an average monthly rent of 1.47 lakhs.

 

University of California San Diego Rankings

The University of California San Diego ranks eighth among U.S. public universities, according to the latest Center for World University Rankings. Some of the other rankings of the university are:

  • #53 in the QS Global World Ranking 2023
  • #34 in National Universities by US News & World Report 2022
  • #8 in Top Public Schools by US News & World Report 2022
  • #180 in Best Value Schools by US News & World Report 2022
  • #34 in World University Rankings in 2022 by Times Higher Education
  • #43 US College Rankings 2022 by Times Higher Education

 

University of California San Diego Campus

University of California San Diego campus houses 761 buildings used as administrative buildings, classrooms, research centers, medical facilities, sports facilities, residential buildings, Laboratories, Libraries, studios, etc.

  • The campus specifically has nine sports facilities, including a 5,000-seat arena, and a state-of-the-art training center for athletes.
  • There are 45 Sorority and Fraternity organizations on campus.
  • 18,500 students on campus are involved in community service yearly.
  • According to Surfer Magazine, it is regarded as one of the most LGBTQ-friendly universities in the United States.
  • The oldest student tradition is the watermelon drop which is a summer physics experiment.

 

University of California San Diego Programs

The institute offers a wide range of courses for international students including over 130 undergraduate majors. Popular majors at the university include Computer Science, Biochemistry, Economics, and Molecular Biology. More than 600+ courses from over 40 disciplines are offered in university’s Summer Session

About 22% of Undergraduate students participate in study abroad programs every year. The institute's Extension International Programs offer Certificate Programs in Business, Law, Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), and Project Management. It also offers a Paralegal Certificate program that combines paralegal practical skills with legal theory and analysis.

 

Undergraduate Admission Requirements:

  • Transcript of academic records
  • Personal insight questions
  • SOP
  • LOR
  • Financial documents and bank statements
  • English Language Proficiency Score
  • TOEFL iBT: 83
  • IELTS: 7.0

 

Graduate Admission Requirements:

  • A successful bachelor’s degree or equivalent
  • Academic transcripts
  • GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (preferably 3.3 ~87-89%)
  • GRE score
  • 3 LOR
  • English proficiency score
  • TOEFL iBT: 85
  • IELTS: 7.0

 

University of California San Diego Placements

The university organizes career fairs, on-campus branding, and marketing, on-campus interviewing, career engagement opportunities, etc. to help students secure a full-time jobs. The Career Portal – Handshake helps students develop their resume, explore career options, find an internship or experiential outcome, training opportunities, and jobs to boost and improve their skill set. The full-time MBA graduates of the university take pride in employment across institutes like Deloitte, Diversified Solutions Inc., EDF Renewable Energy, BD (Becton Dickinson), Bushfire Kitchen, GeneGoCell, KPMG, H&S Energy, LLC, MatrixCare and others.

Top employers of the institute graduates are Intel, Cisco, VISA, Bloomberg, Apple, Airbnb, Western Digital, American Express, Verizon Media, etc. The best paying degree at the University of San Diego is MBA, with alumni earning an average salary of 250,000 USD. 

The admissions response time varies by department. Decisions are made throughout the year. Some departments include information regarding the status of their decision process on their website. The official notification of admission will come from the Admissions office. Once a decision has been made, an email will be sent to the email address provided in the application. The email will direct you to the decision letter.