University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) Admission Requirement
Attaining eligibility means meeting the minimum requirements to be admitted to UC Santa Barbara. However, meeting minimum eligibility does not assure admission. When UCSB cannot admit all eligible applicants, we use standards called “selection criteria” to select students who are more competitive than the minimum requirements.
Eligibility Requirements
Subject Requirement
Students must successfully complete UC-approved courses in the A-G subject areas with a ‘C’ grade or better.* If you attend a California high school, check that the classes you take are on your school’s UC Certified Course List by referencing the A-G Course List resource website.
*UC has temporarily suspended the letter grade requirement for A-G courses completed in winter 2020 through summer 2021 for all students.
A-G courses completed in these terms with Pass (P) or Credit (CR) grades will satisfy appropriate A-G requirements.
Grade Point Requirement
Students must earn a minimum GPA of 3.0 (3.4 for non-California residents) in all A-G courses. Only the grades you earn in A-G subjects in the tenth and eleventh grades – including summer sessions – are used to calculate your preliminary GPA.* Courses you took in the ninth and twelfth grades can be used to meet A-G subject requirements if you earned a grade of C or better, but they will not be used to calculate your GPA.
*UC has temporarily suspended the letter grade requirement for A-G courses completed in winter 2020 through summer 2021 for all students. A-G courses completed in these terms with Pass (P) or Credit (CR) grades will satisfy appropriate A-G requirements.
Exam requirement
UC will not consider SAT or ACT test scores when making admissions decisions or awarding scholarships. If you choose to submit test scores as part of your application, they may be used as an alternative method of fulfilling minimum requirements for eligibility or for course placement after you enroll.
International students
If you’ve completed all your secondary school/high school in a country where English was not the language of instruction, you’re required to demonstrate English proficiency.
However, even if you’ve had some secondary education in the U.S., you may still need to demonstrate English proficiency.
Be sure to look at the international undergraduate admission section for more information about what you need to do and when.