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Ranked by U.S. News as one of the Top 5 public universities in the nation and a Top 30 overall national university, the University of California – Santa Barbara now attracts over 100,000 applications each and every year. As of 2025, the acceptance rate is under 40% and it is extremely rare for UCSB to accept students that have less than a 4.0 and/or did not place in the top decile of their high school class.

In 2025-26, aspiring Gauchos now face a test-blind admissions process that requires near-perfect grades, a rigorous curriculum, and exceptional essays. Given this tall order, the intent of this article is provide future UCSB applicants with the following:

• UCSB鈥檚 Class of 2029 acceptance rate (plus how to predict your chances with our free admissions calculator)
• SAT, ACT, GPA and class rank of accepted UC-Santa Barbara applicants
• Admissions trends
• The demographics of current UCSB undergraduates
• UC-Santa Barbara鈥檚 yield rate
• How UC-Santa Barbara鈥檚 admissions officers evaluate candidates
• Tips for applying to UC-Santa Barbara
• How to assess whether applying to UC-Santa Barbara is even worth the $80 application fee (for you)

UC Santa Barbara – Admissions Calculator

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Let鈥檚 begin with an examination of the most recent admissions data.

UC-Santa Barbara: Acceptance Rate 鈥� Class of 2029

UCSB received 110,178 applications for the Class of 2029. Of those applicant, it accepted 42,170, given UCSB a 38.2% admit rate (the highest in four years). For context, let’s look at a few years of historical UCSB acceptance rates:

UC-Santa Barbara Admissions 鈥� SAT, ACT, Grades, Class Rank

The University of California System has adopted a test-blind policy and will not consider ACT or SAT scores in the admissions process. For the Class of 2029, the mid-50%, weighted GPA range was 4.10-4.29. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 90% of last year’s enrolled class had a GPA of 4.0.

Admissions Trends & Notes

• 30% of incoming 2024-25 freshmen were first-generation students.
• Just over 30% of the Class of 2028 identify as underrepresented minority students.
• Only .63% of entering students had lower than a 3.5 GPA high school GPA.
• Applications have held steady at about 110,000 for the past four years.

Who Gets Into UC-Santa Barbara?

Most UC-Santa Barbara students hailed from the Golden State and paid in-state tuition. Of new student in fall 2024, the geographic breakdown is as follows.

• California residents: 84%
• Domestic nonresident: 7.4%
• International nonresident: 7.8%

Examining the country of origin for international students, China leads the way, followed by India, Taiwan, Canada, and Turkey.

The enrolled Class of 2028 mostly came from public schools in California:

• California Public: 74%
• California Private: 8%
• Non-California (domestic): 9%
• Foreign Institution: 8%

Looking at ethnic identity, the breakdown of the Class of 2028 is as follows:

• Asian: 24%
• Hispanic: 27%
• African American: 4%
• International: 9%
• White: 33%

The breakdown by gender of the enrolled Class of 2028 shows significantly more women than men:

• Male: 42.1%
• Female: 56.5%

UC-Santa Barbara鈥檚 Yield Rate

UC-Santa Barbara鈥檚 yield rate鈥攖he percentage of accepted students who elect to enroll, divided by the total number of students who are admitted was 14%. This is lower than previous years and lower than other UC campuses such as Irvine (20%), UCSD (17%), and UCLA (44%).

How UCSB Rates Applicants

There are only two factors that UC-Santa Barbara ranks as being 鈥渧ery important鈥� to their admissions process: GPA and application essays. Class rank is the only area rated as 鈥渋mportant鈥�. Areas that are 鈥渃onsidered鈥� include: talent/ability, character/personal qualities, extracurricular activities, volunteer experience, first-generation, state residency, volunteer work, and paid work experience.

As mentioned previously, UC-Santa Barbara, along with all other UC campuses are now test-blind. This makes the traditionally holistic review process at UC-Santa Barbara even more pronounced.

In the admissions office鈥檚 own words:

• 鈥淯CSB considers聽 to聽review your achievements and personal qualities聽in the context of the opportunities and/or challenges you have experienced. We do not compare your application with any other applicant, regardless of school or location.鈥�
• 鈥淯CSB doesn鈥檛 just look at academic accomplishments to bring in our freshman class. We look at your extracurricular activities and accomplishments in light of the opportunities available to you.鈥�

Tips for Applying to UC-Santa Barbara

If you plan on joining the 105,000+ Gaucho hopefuls for the next admissions cycle, you should know the following:

• Santa Barbara does evaluate the number of UC-approved honors courses, AP courses, IB courses, or dual enrollment courses a student has taken.
• Learn more about A-G Subject Requirements here.
• While a holistic process, UC-Santa Barbara does not offer interviews.
• UC-Santa Barbara does not consider 鈥�demonstrated interest鈥� in the admissions process.
• Make sure to dedicate sufficient time and effort to the supplemental essays required by UC-Santa Barbara. In the 2025-26 cycle, there are eight total prompts, of which applicants are instructed to choose four to respond to. Each response is limited to maximum of 350 words.

UCSB Essay Prompts

1) Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.

2) 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.聽

3) What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?聽

4) Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

5) 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?

6) Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

7) What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?聽

8) Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?

The best approach here is to select the four prompts that are the best fit for you and elicit the most compelling and personal responses. For more, read our blog:聽How to Master the UC Personal Insight Essays.

Should I Apply to UCSB?

Getting into UC-Santa Barbara has never been a more challenging endeavor, as it now requires near-perfect (or perfect) grades in 10+ honors/AP/IB courses. Even in-state applicants need to have pristine academic transcripts and other compelling attributes. As such, all students need to make sure that they formulate an聽appropriate college list, containing a complement of 鈥渢arget鈥� and 鈥渟afety鈥� schools. You鈥檒l definitely want to do this in collaboration with an admissions professional who is aware of the latest trends and strategies associated with your prospective colleges.

Ready to begin crafting your UC applications? Consider checking out the following:

• Should You Start College Applications in the Summer?
• What is Demonstrated Interest?
• Do Colleges Look at Social Media?
• College Fair Advice for High School Students
• How to Write the UC Activities List
• The Best UC Schools Ranked
• 25 Inspiring College Essay Topic Ideas