UCI Transfer Acceptance Rate and Requirements — 2024
December 18, 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 who 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 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.
For entry in the fall of 2023, UCI received 21,995 applications and accepted 9,545 students. This means that the UCI transfer acceptance rate is 43.5%.
For entry 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.
When trying to get the complete picture of how difficult it is to transfer into a given school, it is important to look at historical data. Many schools have wild fluctuations in transfer acceptance rates from year to year. However, 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% |
UC Irvine Transfer Acceptance Rate by Major
At a school of UCI’s size, it’s also essential to consider acceptance rates 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 | 41% |
| Psychology | 19% |
| Economics | 36% |
| Mechanical Engineering | 34% |
| Business Administration | 24% |
| Computer Science | 22% |
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
- Personal insight questions
- Supplemental materials (for some majors)
Official transcripts and letters of recommendation are not part of the UCI transfer requirements. In fact, they are not even accepted during the admissions process. That said, by January 31, all applicants will need to complete a Transfer Academic Update (TAU) that provides their fall grades and planned spring coursework. If accepted, you will then need to provide final, official transcripts.
UCI Transfer Acceptance Rate (Continued)
In addition to the aforementioned items, you’ll need to have achieved/earned the following:
- Minimum 60 UC-transferable semester credits (90 UC-transferable quarter units). To clarify, this school only admits transfer students at the junior level.
- Completed major-specific admission requirements.
- Completed Transfer General Education Requirements.
- Attended a California community college. In the most recent cycle, 93% of admitted students hailed from CA community colleges.
We recommend thoroughly reviewing the UC Transfer Application Guide.
If you are a student at a California community college, we recommend thoroughly exploring ASSIST for articulation agreements between Irvine and your current school.
UCI Transfer GPA
According to the university, the median GPA range for CA community college admits was 3.77. California residents must have a minimum 2.4 and non-California residents must have a minimum 2.8. Additionally, some programs have GPA minimums of 3.0 or higher, such as business and engineering.
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.
UCI Transfer Acceptance Rate (Continued)
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?
All essays have a 350-word maximum, and applicants are encouraged to answer the three that align most closely with their individual experiences and circumstances.
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). There are special deadlines and requirements for this program, including a minimum GPA of 3.4. 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.
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:
