UCR acceptance rate is the percentage of applicants who are admitted to UCR. This is a very important metric for a university to have, as it lets potential students know how competitive the school is and whether or not they will be able to get in. Check the ucr acceptance rate by major and uc riverside medical school acceptance rate.
The UCR acceptance rate for first time freshmen is about 67%, which means that about 2/3 of all applicants were admitted. This is pretty low compared to other universities, but it’s not unheard of. The University of California system has a very high acceptance rate overall, so you can expect that all of the different campuses will have similar numbers.
uCR acceptance rate by major
UCR acceptance rate
What are UC Riverside’s admission requirements? While there are a lot of pieces that go into a college application, you should focus on only a few critical things:
- GPA requirements
- Testing requirements, including SAT and ACT requirements
- Application requirements
In this guide we’ll cover what you need to get into UC Riverside and build a strong application.
School location: Riverside, CA
Admissions Rate: 57%
If you want to get in, the first thing to look at is the acceptance rate. This tells you how competitive the school is and how serious their requirements are.
The acceptance rate at UC Riverside is 57%. For every 100 applicants, 57 are admitted.
This means the school is moderately selective. The school expects you to meet their requirements for GPA and SAT/ACT scores, but they’re more flexible than other schools. If you exceed their requirements, you have an excellent chance of getting in. But if you don’t, you might be one of the unlucky minority that gets a rejection letter.
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UC Riverside GPA Requirements
Many schools specify a minimum GPA requirement, but this is often just the bare minimum to submit an application without immediately getting rejected.
Average GPA: 3.83
The average GPA at UC Riverside is 3.83.
(Most schools use a weighted GPA out of 4.0, though some report an unweighted GPA.
With a GPA of 3.83, UC Riverside requires you to be near the top of your class, and well above average. Your transcript should show mostly A’s. Ideally, you will also have taken several AP or IB classes to show that you can handle academics at a college level.
If you’re currently a junior or senior, your GPA is hard to change in time for college applications. If your GPA is at or below the school average of 3.83, you’ll need a higher SAT or ACT score to compensate. This will help you compete effectively against other applicants who have higher GPAs than you.
SAT and ACT Requirements
Each school has different requirements for standardized testing. Most schools require the SAT or ACT, and many also require SAT subject tests.
You must take either the SAT or ACT to submit an application to UC Riverside. More importantly, you need to do well to have a strong application.
UC Riverside SAT Requirements
Many schools say they have no SAT score cutoff, but the truth is that there is a hidden SAT requirement. This is based on the school’s average score.
Average SAT: 1225
The average SAT score composite at UC Riverside is a 1225 on the 1600 SAT scale.
This score makes UC Riverside Competitive for SAT test scores.
UC Riverside SAT Score Analysis (New 1600 SAT)
The 25th percentile New SAT score is 1130, and the 75th percentile New SAT score is 1330. In other words, a 1130 on the New SAT places you below average, while a 1330 will move you up to above average.
Here’s the breakdown of new SAT scores by section:
| Section | Average | 25th Percentile | 75th Percentile |
| Math | 620 | 550 | 690 |
| Reading + Writing | 605 | 560 | 650 |
| Composite | 1225 | 1130 | 1330 |
SAT Score Choice Policy
The Score Choice policy at your school is an important part of your testing strategy.
UC Riverside has the Score Choice policy of “All Scores.”
This means that UC Riverside requires you to send all SAT scores you’ve ever taken to their office.
This sounds daunting, but most schools don’t actually consider all your scores equally. For example, if you scored an 1300 on one test and a 1500 on another, they won’t actually average the two tests.
More commonly, the school will take your highest score on a single test date. Even better, some schools form a Superscore – that is, they take your highest section score across all your test dates and combine them.
Some students are still worried about submitting too many test scores. They’re afraid that UC Riverside will look down on too many attempts to raise your score. But how many is too many?
From our research and talking to admissions officers, we’ve learned that 4-6 tests is a safe number to submit. The college understands that you want to have the best chance of admission, and retaking the test is a good way to do this. Within a reasonable number of tests, they honestly don’t care how many times you’ve taken it. They’ll just focus on your score.
If you take it more than 6 times, colleges start wondering why you’re not improving with each test. They’ll question your study skills and ability to improve.
But below 6 tests, we strongly encourage retaking the test to maximize your chances. If your SAT score is currently below a 1225, we strongly recommend that you consider prepping for the SAT and retaking it. You don’t have much to lose, and you can potentially raise your score and significantly boost your chances of getting in.
Exclusive: Want to learn how to improve your SAT score by 160 points?
UC Riverside ACT Requirements
Just like for the SAT, UC Riverside likely doesn’t have a hard ACT cutoff, but if you score too low, your application will get tossed in the trash.
Average ACT: 27
The average ACT score at UC Riverside is 27. This score makes UC Riverside Moderately Competitive for ACT scores.
The 25th percentile ACT score is 24, and the 75th percentile ACT score is 30.
Even though UC Riverside likely says they have no minimum ACT requirement, if you apply with a 24 or below, you’ll have a harder time getting in, unless you have something else impressive in your application.
ACT Score Sending Policy
If you’re taking the ACT as opposed to the SAT, you have a huge advantage in how you send scores, and this dramatically affects your testing strategy.
Here it is: when you send ACT scores to colleges, you have absolute control over which tests you send. You could take 10 tests, and only send your highest one. This is unlike the SAT, where many schools require you to send all your tests ever taken.
This means that you have more chances than you think to improve your ACT score. To try to aim for the school’s ACT requirement of 27 and above, you should try to take the ACT as many times as you can. When you have the final score that you’re happy with, you can then send only that score to all your schools.
ACT Superscore Policy
By and large, most colleges do not superscore the ACT. (Superscore means that the school takes your best section scores from all the test dates you submit, and then combines them into the best possible composite score). Thus, most schools will just take your highest ACT score from a single sitting.
We weren’t able to find the school’s exact ACT policy, which most likely means that it does not Superscore. Regardless, you can choose your single best ACT score to send in to UC Riverside, so you should prep until you reach our recommended target ACT score of 27.
Studying for the ACT instead? Want to learn how to improve your ACT score by 4 points?
SAT/ACT Writing Section Requirements
Both the SAT and ACT have an optional essay section.
UC Riverside requires you to take the SAT Essay/ACT Writing section. They’ll use this as another factor in their admissions consideration.
SAT Subject Test Requirements
Schools vary in their SAT subject test requirements. Typically, selective schools tend to require them, while most schools in the country do not.
UC Riverside has indicated that SAT subject tests are recommended. Typically this means that SAT subject tests are not required, but submitting them can showcase particular strengths. For example, if you’re applying to an engineering school, submitting science and math SAT subject tests will boost your application.
Typically, your SAT/ACT and GPA are far more heavily weighed than your SAT Subject Tests. If you have the choice between improving your SAT/ACT score or your SAT Subject Test scores, definitely choose to improve your SAT/ACT score.
uC riverside medical school acceptance rate
Final Admissions Verdict
Because this school is moderately selective, strong academic performance will almost guarantee you admission. Scoring a 1330 SAT or a 30 ACT or above will nearly guarantee you admission. Because the school admits 57% of all applicants, being far above average raises the admission rate for you to nearly 100%.
If you can achieve a high SAT/ACT score, the rest of your application essentially doesn’t matter. You still need to meet the rest of the application requirements, and your GPA shouldn’t be too far off from the school average of 3.83. But you won’t need dazzling extracurriculars and breathtaking letters of recommendation to get in. You can get in based on the merits of your score alone.
But if your score is a 1130 SAT or a 24 ACT and below, you have a good chance of being one of the unlucky few to be rejected.
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We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools.
Admissions Calculator
What are your chances of admission at University of California, Riverside?Chances of admission with these scores:59.19%
Here’s our custom admissions calculator. Plug in your numbers to see what your chances of getting in are.
Pick your test: New SAT ACTSAT ScoreYour GPA
Note: Your admission decision relies not only on your GPA and SAT/ACT scores, but also on your coursework difficulty, extracurriculars, letters of recommendation, and personal statements. This tool provides only a simplistic estimate of your chances of admission. Instead of treating this tool as a crystal ball, we recommend you consider the big picture of what your chance means:
- 80-100%: Safety school: Strong chance of getting in
- 50-80%: More likely than not getting in
- 20-50%: Lower but still good chance of getting in
- 5-20%: Reach school: Unlikely to get in, but still have a shot
- 0-5%: Hard reach school: Very difficult to get in
We recommend you apply to schools across a range of chances. Applying to some safety schools will guarantee you have a college to go to, while applying to some reach schools will give you a shot at getting into the school at the top of your range.
How would your chances improve with a better score?
Take your current SAT score and add 160 points (or take your ACT score and add 4 points) to the calculator above. See how much your chances improve?
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- Our team is made of national SAT/ACT experts. PrepScholar’s founders are Harvard graduates and SAT perfect scorers. You’ll be studying using the strategies that actually worked for them.
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Application Requirements
Every school requires an application with the bare essentials – high school transcript and GPA, application form, and other core information. Many schools, as explained above, also require SAT and ACT scores, as well as letters of recommendation, application essays, and interviews. We’ll cover the exact requirements of UC Riverside here.
Application Requirements Overview
- Common ApplicationNot accepted
- Universal ApplicationNot accepted
- Electronic ApplicationAvailable
- Essay or Personal StatementRequired for all freshmen
- Letters of Recommendation
- InterviewNot required
- Application Fee$70
- Fee Waiver Available?Available
- Other Notes
Testing Requirements
- SAT or ACTRequired
- SAT Essay or ACT WritingRequired
- SAT Subject TestsRecommended
- Scores Due in OfficeJuly 15
Coursework Requirements
- SubjectRequired Years
- English4
- Math3
- Science2
- Foreign Language2
- Social Studies
- History2
- Electives1
Deadlines and Early Admissions
-
- Offered?DeadlineNotification
- Regular Admission
- YesNovember 30Rolling, notification begins February 1
- Early Action
- No
- Early Decision
- No
Admissions Office Information
- Address:900
Riverside, CA 92521-0102 - Phone:(951) 827-3411
- Fax:(951) 827-6344
- Email:admissions@ucr.edu
Other Schools For You
If you’re interested in UC Riverside, you’ll probably be interested in these schools as well. We’ve divided them into 3 categories depending on how hard they are to get into, relative to UC Riverside.
Reach Schools: Harder to Get Into
These schools are have higher average SAT scores than UC Riverside. If you improve your SAT score, you’ll be competitive for these schools.
| School Name | Location | SAT Avg | ACT Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Connecticut | Storrs, CT | 1315 | 29 |
| Rochester Institute of Technology | Rochester, NY | 1300 | 30 |
| University of Massachusetts Amherst | Amherst, MA | 1290 | 29 |
| Syracuse University | Syracuse, NY | 1275 | 28 |
| United States Military Academy | West Point, NY | 1270 | 28 |
| Penn State University Park | University Park, PA | 1265 | 28 |
| University of Cincinnati | Cincinnati, OH | 1265 | 27 |
Same Level: Equally Hard to Get Into
If you’re competitive for UC Riverside, these schools will offer you a similar chance of admission.
| School Name | Location | SAT Avg | ACT Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temple University | Philadelphia, PA | 1238 | 27 |
| Auburn University | Auburn University, AL | 1235 | 28 |
| University of Arizona | Tucson, AZ | 1235 | 25 |
| Seton Hall University | South Orange, NJ | 1231 | 26 |
| University of Houston | Houston, TX | 1225 | 25 |
| San Diego State University | San Diego, CA | 1215 | 26 |
| University of Oklahoma | Norman, OK | 1210 | 26 |
Safety Schools: Easier to Get Into
If you’re currently competitive for UC Riverside, you should have no problem getting into these schools. If UC Riverside is currently out of your reach, you might already be competitive for these schools.
| School Name | Location | SAT Avg | ACT Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Alabama | Tuscaloosa, AL | 1184 | 27 |
| Quinnipiac University | Hamden, CT | 1175 | 26 |
| Ohio University | Athens, OH | 1170 | 24 |
| University of North Texas | Denton, TX | 1160 | 23 |
| California State University Long Beach | Long Beach, CA | 1145 | 23 |
| Pace University | New York, NY | 1140 | 25 |
| Florida Gulf Coast University | Fort Myers, FL | 1135 | 23 |
Riverside: Freshman admission profile
This is a snapshot of the admitted freshman class for fall 2019.
Please be cautious in drawing conclusions from this information. Use it as a general guide to selectivity and not as a predictor of your chance for admission to UC Riverside.
Admit data
Applicants:
49,509
Admits:
27,886
Overall admit rate:
56.3 %
| GPA and test scores of middle 25%-75% students | |
| High School GPA | 3.69 – 4.11 |
| ACT Composite Score | 21 – 29 |
| ACT English Language Arts | 22 – 30 |
| SAT Evidence Based Reading & Writing | 560 – 670 |
| SAT Mathematics | 570 – 730 |
| SAT Essay | 14 – 17 |
UC Riverside SAT Scores
SAT Requirements & Average SAT Score
SAT Range
1130-1330
Applicants Submitting SAT
92%
| SAT Reading 25th | 570 |
| SAT Math 25th | 560 |
| SAT Composite 25th | 1130 |
| SAT Reading 75th | 650 |
| SAT Math 75th | 680 |
| SAT Composite 75th | 1330 |
| Average SAT Score | 1230 |
SAT Scores you need to get in
What are the SAT requirements for students to be admitted to University of California Riverside?
University of California Riverside typically prefers applicants to be in the top 36 percent of SAT test takers. The school consistently takes SAT composite scores down to 1130 on a 1600 scale, below which admission should be considered a reach. We estimate some students could be accepted with SAT’s as low as 1030. The estimated average SAT composite for admitted freshman is 1230 out of 1600. The school ranks #25 in California for highest average SAT composite score. A competitive SAT score is critical as 92 percent of applicants submit SAT scores to the school.Data Sources, IPEDS for Fall 2019 starting class
Estimated Chance of Acceptance by SAT Score
| SAT Score (1600 scale) | Competitiveness | Admission Chances |
|---|---|---|
| 1330 and Above | Good | >69% |
| 1230 to 1330 | Avg + | 57%-69% |
| 1130 to 1230 | Avg – | 44%-57% |
| 1030 to 1130 | Reach | 31%-44% |
| Less than 1030 | Low | <31% |
CALCULATE MY CHANCES
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UC Riverside ACT Scores
ACT Requirements & Average ACT Score
ACT Range
23-30
Applicants Submitting ACT
42%
| ACT Reading 25th | 21 |
| ACT Math 25th | 21 |
| ACT Composite 25th | 23 |
| ACT Reading 75th | 29 |
| ACT Math 75th | 28 |
| ACT Composite 75th | 30 |
| Average ACT Score | 26 |
ACT Scores needed to get accepted
What are the ACT requirements for prospective students to get into UC Riverside?
Admission data indicates that UC Riverside regularly accepts students with ACT’s of 23 and above. Successful applicants typically send ACT scores in the top 32 percent nationally. We estimate the school accepting minimum ACT composite scores around 20 in some instances. Prospective students submitting an ACT composite of 26 or higher should be in the upper half of applicants – and students with a 30 and above have very competitive chances. The school ranks #25 in California for highest average ACT composite score. 42 percent of applicants submit ACT scores to University of California Riverside.Data Sources, IPEDS for Fall 2019 starting class
Estimated Chance of Acceptance by ACT Score
| ACT Score | Competitiveness | Admission Chances |
|---|---|---|
| 30 and Above | Good | >71% |
| 26 to 30 | Avg + | 57%-71% |
| 23 to 26 | Avg – | 46%-57% |
| 20 to 23 | Reach | 35%-46% |
| Less than 20 | Low | <35% |
UC Riverside GPA
Estimated GPA Requirements & Average GPA
Avg. High School GPA
3.6
Typical High School Grades
B+
What GPA do you need to get into University of California Riverside?
Applicants require very good grades in high school to get into UC Riverside. The average high school GPA of the admitted freshman class at University of California Riverside was 3.6 on the 4.0 scale indicating that primarily B+ students are accepted and ultimately attend. The school ranks #32 in California for highest average GPA. If your high school GPA meets these requirements, there is a good chance you will be accepted as UC Riverside accepts 57% of students who apply.
| High School GPA | Freshmen Within Range | Competitiveness |
|---|---|---|
| 3.75+ | 31% | Good |
| 3.50 to 3.75 | 33% | Avg + |
| 3.25 to 3.50 | 24% | Avg – |
| 3.00 to 3.25 | 11% | Reach |
| 2.75 to 3.00 | 1% | Reach |
| 2.50 to 2.75 | N/A% | Low |
| 2.25 to 2.50 | N/A% | Low |
| 2.00 to 2.25 | N/A% | Low |
University of California Berkeley
Public 4 Year
High School Class Rank
94% of University of California Riverside freshman were in the top ten percent of their high school graduating class.
| High School Class Rank | Freshmen Within Range |
|---|---|
| Top 10% of class | 94% |
| Top 25% of class | 100% |
| Top 50% of class | 100% |
| Bottom 50% of class | 0% |
| Bottom 25% of class | 0% |
Data Source, Wintergreen Orchard House
Applying
Admission Statistics
| Women | Men | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applied | 27,617 | 21,898 | 49,515 |
| Accepted | 15,928 | 12,056 | 27,984 |
| Acceptance Rate | 58% | 55% | 57% |
| Enrolled | 2,561 | 2,205 | 4,766 |
| Percent of Admitted Who Enrolled (Admission Yield) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
Data Sources, IPEDS for Fall 2019 starting class
Fall 2021 Application Deadline
Applications were Due
Nov 30, 2020
Days left to Apply
None
The application deadline for Fall 2021 has passed. Applications were due on Nov 30, 2020.
Application Fee
The cost for prospective students to apply to University of California Riverside is $70.
Admission Requirements
What are the requirements for admission to University of California Riverside and what student information is used for admission decisions?
| Test Scores | Required |
| High School GPA | Required |
| High School Class Rank | Neither required nor recommended |
| Completion of College Preparatory Program | Required |
| Recommendations | Neither required nor recommended |
| Demonstration of Competencies | Neither required nor recommended |
Credits Accepted
| AP Credit | Yes |
| Dual Credit | Yes |
| Credit for Life Experiences | No |
The University of California, Riverside is the second-largest campus in the UC system. It’s also one of the most diverse, with students hailing from all over the world and nearly every state in the U.S.
In fact, UCR students come from all 50 states and more than 100 countries around the world—and have an acceptance rate of only about 28%. That means if you’re hoping to attend UCR, you need to apply early!
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