2022-23 UC Irvine (UCI) Transfer Acceptance Rate, Requirements, and Application Deadline

January 6, 2023

If you desire to call yourself a University of California Irvine Anteater, you are far from alone. With almost 120,000 freshman applicants, UCI can only accept 21% of that large pool, and those that attend have a median high school GPA of 4.22. If you didn’t quite hit that lofty mark, there is still a very doable path toward studying at the Irvine campus. It may surprise you to learn that over 9,000 transfer applicants are offered that chance every year. Further, the UC Irvine transfer acceptance rate is higher than the figure for first-years. This blog will share the UCI transfer acceptance rate as well as other essential pieces of information like the UCI transfer deadline, the requirements/checklist for applicants, the UCI transfer decision date, and much more.

UCI Transfer Acceptance Rate

Below we present the most current available UC Irvine transfer acceptance rate as well as historical data.

In the fall of 2022, the UCI transfer acceptance rate was 40.7%. That year, UC Irvine received 22,843 transfer applications and accepted 9,296 students.

That year, the acceptance rate broken down by gender was:

Male transfer applicants: 32.8%
Female transfer applicants: 42.9%

When trying to get the complete picture of how difficult it is to transfer into a given school, it is important to also look at historical data. Many schools have wild fluctuations in transfer acceptance rate from year to year. Yet this is not the case here. As you can see, UC Irvine is always within a tight 37%-44% range.

Historical transfer rates are as follows:

Year	Acceptance Rate
2021	37.7%
2020	40.5%
2019	44.0%
2018	41.6%

UCI Transfer Deadline

For every academic program, the UCI transfer deadline is November 30. The application window opens on August 1, so you can begin completing all materials at that time. The FAFSA deadline is March 2.

UCI Transfer Requirements

All students must submit the following items as part of their UC Irvine application:

A University of California Application
Official college transcripts
Final high school transcripts
Supplemental materials (for some majors)

In addition to meeting the transfer requirements, you’ll need to have achieved/earned the following:

Completion of general education/breadth requirement
Minimum 60 UC-transferable semester (90 UC-transferable quarter units)
Lower Division Major Preparation Courses
Completed Transfer General Education Requirements

If you are a student at a California community college, we recommend thoroughly exploring Assist for articulation agreements between Irvine and your current school.

UC Irvine Transfer Acceptance by Major

Here are some of the transfer acceptance rates for some of the most popular majors at the University of California Irvine:

Major	Acceptance Rate
Biology	33%
Psychology	36%
Economics	33%
Mechanical Engineering	32%
Business Administration	18%
Computer Science	11%

UCI Transfer GPA

According to the university, the median GPA range for CA community college admits was 3.80.

University of California Irvine Essays

Required UC Irvine Essay:

Please describe how you have prepared for your intended major, including your readiness to succeed in your upper-division courses once you enroll at the university.

Choose 3 of the following 7 questions (in addition to the mandatory prompt above):

Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.
Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.
What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?
Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.
Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?
What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?
Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?

UCI Transfer Decision Date

The UCI transfer decision date will be posted on the Transfer Portal by April 30.

Final Thoughts – UC Irvine University Transfer Acceptance Rate

UC Irvine does allow students to enter via the Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG). However, the following programs are not accessible through TAG:

Art
Business Administration
Dance
Music
Nursing Science
ALL majors in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences.

This school only admits transfer students at the junior level.

In addition to the traditional academic metrics, the admissions committee takes the following into consideration: “disabilities, low family income, first generation to attend college, need to work, disadvantaged social or educational environment, difficult personal and family situations or circumstances, refugee status or veteran status.”

If you are looking for information on how to apply to UC Irvine as a first-year student, you may find the following blog to be of interest:

Those searching for application info on other institutions may wish to visit our Dataverse pages/blogs:

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Dave Bergman

Dave has over a decade of professional experience that includes work as a teacher, high school administrator, college professor, and independent educational consultant. He is a co-author of the books The Enlightened College Applicant (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) and Colleges Worth Your Money (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).