Presenting yourself on the first-year UC application

2026–27

Prepare to apply

First-year admission timeline

August 1

UC application opens

October 1 –

November 30

UC application filing period

October 1 – March 2

FAFSA and CADAA

priority filing period

March

First-year admission decisions released

May 1

First-year SIR

deadline

July

Official, final transcripts and AP/IB exam results due

Before you start

• Consider your major and campus

options

• Get an unofficial copy of your transcripts
• Write your responses to the Personal Insight Questions (PIQs)
• Create a document outlining all your activities, awards and work/volunteer experience

Applicants must complete the UC

application thoroughly and accurately.

Application integrity

This includes:

• Academic history
• Activities, awards, work experience and community service
• Personal Insight Questions

All applicants must agree to the Statement of Application Integrity in order to submit the UC application. This acknowledges that the information reported in the UC application was done so by the student and is accurate.

UC does verify information reported in the UC application. Honesty is the best policy.

Starting the UC application

Browser security

The basics

Be sure to use a supported browser to ensure functionality of the UC application and to protect the information you provide.

Responsive

The application is mobile-friendly, so you can use your tablet and other devices.

Inactivity

Use the “Save and Continue” options to avoid timing out of the application. After 20 minutes of inactivity, you will automatically be logged out.

Start your UC application online!

Create an account

Email address

You will continue to use this email throughout the UC application process, so be sure to choose an email that you use frequently.

It is not recommended to use a school-issued email address.

Email verification process

Email verification

When creating a UC application, you will need to verify the email address provided by entering a unique code sent via email when prompted.

Term and applicant level

Creating the application

Your selections here will determine what questions you are asked elsewhere in the UC application.

Double check that you have selected the correct term and applicant level!

Navigating the UC application

• The UC application includes seven sections that

can be completed in any order.

• Start with About you as it contains logic that is then used throughout the application.
• You can save your progress at any time and pick back up where you left off next time you log in.

Tip: A successful UC application is not

completed in one sitting!

UC application sections

• About you
• Campuses & majors
• Academic History
• Test scores
• Activities & awards
• Scholarships & support programs
• Personal insight
• Review & submit

About you

Lived name

About you — Lived name

If your lived or preferred name is different than your legal name, include it here.

If your legal name is the name you go by, select “No” here and continue forward.

CaliforniaColleges.edu

course import

About you — SSID

If your high school is a CCGI partner, you can import your coursework from your CaliforniaColleges.edu account by entering your SSID and authorizing its release.

U.S. citizenship

About you — Citizenship and residency (U.S. citizens)

If you are a U.S. citizen, you will be asked about your social security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), along with tribal affiliation and high school graduation.

Non-U.S. citizen

About you — Citizenship and residency (non-U.S. citizens)

If you are a citizen of another country, you will be asked additional questions regarding permanent residency and/or visa status.

Undocumented students

About you — Citizenship and residency (undocumented students)

• “No Selection” is an available and valid response for country of citizenship.
• If you do not have a U.S. Social Security Number (SSN), a DACA Social Security Number or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), simply leave the social security question blank.
• Respond to the questions about attending and graduating from a California high school.
• View further instructions on completing the About You section

Understanding your home environment

About you — Your background

You’ll be asked about:

• First language
• Marital status
• Children
• Foster care
• Homelessness or risk of homelessness
• U.S. military status

UC application fee waiver

About you — Your household

• Family size and income information provided in this section is used to determine eligibility for the UC application fee waiver.
• If eligible, the application fees for up to four (4) campuses will be waived.
• This information is not used to determine residency status or eligibility for financial aid.

Parent information

About you — Parent information

• You can enter information for up to two (2) parents or legal guardians.
• This information gives admission readers more insight in your family life.

Parent contact information

About you — Parent contact information

• Submitting parent contact information is optional.
• Doing so allows the campuses the option to send them important admissions updates and information, but they will not receive information about your application or admission decision.

Statement of Legal Residence (SLR)

About you — Statement of Legal Residence

• In this section, applicants can choose whether or not they would like to be evaluated for California residency for tuition purposes.
• Both options will prompt additional questions.

About you — Residency consideration

Residency consideration

• Selecting “Yes” will prompt additional questions about you and your parent/legal guardian’s physical presence in California.
• Additional documentation may be requested by UC after submission of your UC application.

About you — Declining residency consideration

Declining consideration

• If you choose not to be considered for California residency, you will be asked why.
• By choosing this option, you will be classified as a nonresident for tuition purposes.

Undocumented students

About you — Statement of Legal Residence for undocumented students

• View further instructions for completing this section.
• Select the appropriate checkbox for AB 540 nonresident supplement tuition exemption.
• Additional information for residency determination will be requested after submission of the UC application.

Campuses & majors

Choosing campuses

Campuses & majors — Choosing your campuses

• Select all the campuses you want to apply to here.
• There is an application fee of $80 per campus you select ($95 for international applicants).
• You are encouraged to apply broadly to increase your chances of being admitted to UC.

Choosing a major

Campuses & majors — Choosing your major(s)

• For each campus selected, applicants must indicate a major choice.
• You do not need to select the same or similar major at each UC.
• Each UC campus offers an undeclared/undecided option for first-year applicants.

Campuses & majors — Category view

Category view

• If you are unsure of which college a particular major falls under, use category view to locate your major choice.

Alternate majors

Campuses & majors — Alternate major

• Applicants can choose both a first-choice major and an alternate major for most campuses.
• Alternate majors should be in a subject that you want to study.
• Not all campuses may consider applicants for an alternate major.

Supplemental applications

Campuses & majors — Supplemental applications/auditions

• Some majors may require supplemental materials or an audition.
• Requirements for supplemental applications will vary by campus and program.
• Pay close attention to the deadline for supplemental applications/auditions!

Campuses & majors — UC San Diego colleges

If applying to UC San Diego, you will have the option to rank your top four colleges in order of your preference.

If you choose not to rank your top four colleges, you will be assigned to any of the eight colleges by UC San Diego upon admission.

All majors are available in all

colleges at UC San Diego.

Campuses & majors — UC San Diego colleges ranking

This information does not influence your chances of admission to UC San Diego, nor is your college assignment based on major.

Academic history

7^th and 8^th grade coursework

7^th and 8^th grade

• High school-level courses completed during the 7^th and 8^th grades can be used to fulfill the math and language other than English (LOTE) minimum requirement.
• These are the only subject areas that can be met with 7^th or 8^th grade coursework.

9^th grade junior high

9^th grade junior high coursework

• If your 9^th grade was in a middle school or junior high school, the school will not appear upon initial search.
• Manually enter the school information when prompted.
• Once added, enter your courses and grades for the 9^th grade only in this section.

Adding a high school

High school attendance

• Enter all high schools you have attended since 9^th grade.
• Search for your school by name, city

or school code.

Dates of attendance

High school dates of attendance

• Enter the start and end dates for each high school.
• Enter the grade(s) and corresponding academic year(s) you attended this high school.
• If you took summer courses, check the box to indicate in which year you took them.

Grading and term system

High school grading and term system

• Select the grading system that reflects what is reported on your high school transcript.
• Select your school’s term system based on the final grades you receive. Multiple term systems may be selected as needed (ex. block scheduling).

Homeschool

Homeschool

• If you are homeschooled and not associated with a traditional public or private high school, select this option under “Specialized curriculum”.
• You will need to manually enter your school information and coursework.

California College

Guidance Initiative (CCGI)

Importing course information from a CCGI partner school

• If you attend a CCGI partner school and have authorized the release of your information to CCGI in the “About you” section, you will be able to import your courses and grades into the UC application.

Verify the information

Verifying course information from CCGI import

• Once imported, you will need to review all of your coursework and grades to ensure accuracy.
• Make any corrections as needed

using the “Edit” button.

• Reminder: This feature is only for CCGI-partner schools!

Selecting coursework

Course selection

Beginning with 9^th grade, select all A-G coursework completed.

• Include all courses, even those that

were repeated or not passed.

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Tip: Have an unofficial copy of your high school transcript(s) handy for this section.

Entering grades

Entering grades

• For all courses, enter the grade(s) received as they appear on your transcript.
• Do not round your grades! UC does not use +/- grading for high school courses, so a B+ or B- should be reported as a B.
• If you only took a course for a single term, select “NO” for the term in which you did not take the course.

Senior year

Senior year

• Don’t forget to include your 12^th

grade coursework!

• Senior year grades will default to IP (In Progress) and PL (Planned). Do not add senior year grades, even if they are available, unless you have already graduated (i.e., completing a gap year).

Entering coursework manually

Manual entry

• For students who do not see their courses, or students not enrolled in a California high school, coursework must be entered manually as it appears on the transcript.

What if only summer coursework

was completed at a high school?

Reporting summer courses only

• Report the dates of attendance accurately and be sure to check the box indicating that you took summer courses.

Summer course entry

Reporting summer courses only continued

• Enter your summer courses in the corresponding summer term.
• Do not enter your summer courses

in the regular academic year!

• This will prompt an error message in the UC application, but you can skip the page and continue with the rest of your application as normal.

College courses may meet A-G requirements if:

Reporting college courses

College courses/dual enrollment

• Report all of your A-G college coursework completed while in high school in the “College coursework” section as it appears on the official college transcript.
• Do not report this coursework in the high school section, even if posted to your high school transcript.

• The college is accredited by one of the seven former regional accrediting agencies
• The course is UC-transferable (with exception of some non-transferable English and math coursework)
• Course is at least 3 semester/4 quarter

units in value (each)

• Course clearly falls within an A-G subject area
• Course is taken for a letter grade
• Letter grade of C or better (not C-) is

earned

Adding a college

Adding a college

• Be sure to add all colleges you’ve

attended while in high school.

• Similar to adding your high school, you will need to enter the school, dates of attendance, term system and grading system.

Adding college courses

Adding college courses

• Report all college courses and grades, including courses in progress and planned during senior year. Include any Withdrawals, Incompletes or repeated courses.
• Courses that are not appropriate for A-G or are under 3 semester units should not be reported here. Instead, report them in the Activities & Awards section.

Entering college courses and grades

College courses and grades

• For California Community Colleges (CCC), UC-transferable courses will appear by department. Select all courses you’ve enrolled in and enter grades received.
• If coursework was not taken at a CCC, you will need to enter the coursework manually.

Additional comments (Academic history)

Additional comments

• If there is additional information that would help the reader better understand your academic context and history, add it here.
• This section is not required, but if you choose to add information, there is a 550-character limit.

Test scores

UC does not consider SAT or ACT test scores when making admissions decisions or awarding scholarships.

Reporting test scores

Test scores may only be used an alternate method of fulfilling certain minimum eligibility requirements or for course placement after matriculation at UC.

SAT and/or ACT scores for this purpose can only be self-reported in the UC application after submission.

English language proficiency

English language proficiency

• Only students who have fewer than three years of high school in the U.S. and whose primary language of instruction outside the U.S. was not in English are required to demonstrate English proficiency.
• Official testing scores are not required until a student is offered admission to UC.

Activities & awards

Activities & awards overview

Applicants can enter up to 20 activities

across 6 categories.

Enter the activities and categories that best reflect your interests and achievements.

Students are not required to have an entry for each category.

Categories:

• Award or honor
• Educational prep program (e.g., AVID, EAOP, GEAR UP, MESA)
• Extracurricular activity
• Other coursework (e.g., non-A-G high school or college courses, non-credit bearing courses)
• Volunteer/community service
• Work experience

Adding details

Activity/award details

• When describing the activity, focus on your role, responsibility and accomplishments rather than just describing the activity itself.
• Don’t forget to select the 12^th grade checkbox if you plan to continue this involvement in your senior year!
• Available fields will depend on the category selected.

Activities & awards tips

Tips for this section

• Avoid unfamiliar acronyms.
• Don’t repeat entries across multiple categories.
• Don’t overlook other ways you may have spent your time, including caring for siblings

or other family members or other obligations at home.

• You don’t need to list something in every category, nor do you need to add the maximum of 20 activities. The quality of your involvements is more valuable than the quantity.
• Keep in mind, UC does not value any activity over another.

Scholarships & support programs

Scholarships

Apply for scholarships

Apply for scholarships directly within the UC application by selecting those which match your characteristics, interests and background.

Explore scholarship options by category.

You can select as many options for consideration as you choose.

Support programs

You can also indicate interest in two of UC’s many support programs for students — the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) and UC’s Foster Youth Programs.

Personal Insight Questions (PIQs)

Personal Insight Questions (PIQs)

Learning more about you: PIQs

• Respond to 4 of the 8 questions
• All questions hold equal value
• 350 words maximum per response
• Focus on the content, not the style, of your writing
• May be used for admission and

scholarship consideration

Writing the PIQs

Work on your PIQ responses in a separate document to check for spelling and grammatical errors. Once ready, copy and paste them into the UC application.

Find more information about the PIQs on the UC admission website

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Guidance on using AI tools for the

PIQs:

AI: A tool, not a replacement

• Can be a useful tool for brainstorming or organizing your thoughts in the early stages, but your final PIQ responses should be your own work and voice
• All applicants must agree to UC’s Statement of Application Integrity when submitting their UC application!

Additional comments

Additional comments (Personal Insight Questions)

• A second opportunity for additional comments is available in this section.
• You can use this section to explain any information that does not appear elsewhere in the application.
• Do not write a 5^th PIQ response here!

Submitting the UC application

Before you submit your application, be sure to take the time to review each section.

Review and submit

Completed sections will have a visible checkmark. You will be prompted to return to any incomplete sections.

Once submitted, only limited personal information can be updated!

Incomplete sections

You will be prompted to complete any sections with missing information before submitting your UC application.

Missing requirements

Missing A-G requirements

If you are missing any A-G requirements, you will be notified in this step.

If correct, you can acknowledge the missing requirement and proceed.

If this is not correct, you will need to return to Academic history and review the entered information.

There is an $80 applicant fee per campus ($95 for international applicants).

Billing summary and fee waiver

If eligible for the UC application fee waiver, that will be noted on this screen. Applicants must accept and apply the fee waiver.

The fee waiver will cover the application fees for up to four (4) campuses.

UC application voucher

If you’ve received a UC application fee voucher through an organization, indicate so here.

You will need to enter the organization name and voucher number.

If you have a fee waiver from the following sources, select “Yes” when asked about a non-UC fee waiver:

Non-UC fee waiver

• College Board/SAT
• Common Application
• EOPS
• NACAC
• SCOIR

Only one fee waiver can be applied to your

application, regardless of the source.

To submit your application,

payment by credit card is required.

Submitting payment

A “Pay later” option is available if you will be submitting a non-UC fee waiver. Do not pay your application fees at this time.

• You will receive instructions on how to submit your non-UC fee waiver via email.

Release authorizations and Statement of Integrity

To submit your application, you will need to electronically sign the UC application and acknowledge to the Statement of Integrity.

You will also have the option to authorize the sharing of application information with scholarship agencies, your parent/guardian(s), counselor(s) and/or UC organizations and alumni groups.

After submission, be sure to make

note of the following:

Submission confirmation

• Application ID
• Date submitted
• Payment method
• Confirmation ID

Once submitted, applicants can log back into their UC application to view the available options listed in the navigation menu.

After submission

Changes to the UC application are very limited once submitted.

Resources

If you have questions, contact the application help desk at ucinfo@applyucsupport.net

Need assistance?

Or call the UC Application Center:

Within the U.S.: (800) 207-1710

Outside the U.S.: (925) 298-6856

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View the UC Application Center helpdesk hours on the UC application login page.

General admission information

admission.universityofcalifornia.edu

First-year admission resources

UC admission requirements admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/admission-requirements/first-year-requirements

UC admission selection process admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/how-to-apply/applying-as-a-first-year/how-applications-are-reviewed.html

Filling out the UC application admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/how-to-apply/applying-as-a-first-year/filling-out-the-application.html

Campus admission websites

UC Berkeley: admissions.berkeley.edu

UC Davis: ucdavis.edu/admissions/undergraduate

UC Irvine: admissions.uci.edu

UCLA: admission.ucla.edu

UC Merced: admissions.ucmerced.edu

UC Riverside: admissions.ucr.edu

UC San Diego: admissions.ucsd.edu

UC Santa Barbara: admissions.ucsb.edu

UC Santa Cruz: admissions.ucsc.edu

Thank you