Merced College: UC admissions

MercedCommunity college

In fall 2025 transfers, 193 transfer students from Merced College applied to the University of California and 146 (76%) were admitted to at least one campus. The most popular choice was UC Merced with 159 applicants. The hardest campus to get into was UC Berkeley (10 of 64 admitted, 16%), and the easiest was UC Merced (74%). Admitted transfer students had an average transfer GPA of 3.44.

What stands out

Between 2021 and 2025, UC San Diego got harder for Merced College transfer students (41% → 34% admitted), while UC Riverside got easier (45% → 61%). Its applicants were admitted at lower rates than the overall applicant pool at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Los Angeles, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz.

Fall 2025 transfers results by campus

CampusAppliedAdmittedAdmit rateAll applicants’ rateEnrolledAvg GPA appliedAvg GPA admitted
Any UC campus19314676%—1043.273.44
UC Berkeley641016%22%63.423.69
UC Davis763546%56%93.313.61
UC Irvine501224%39%43.403.74
UC Los Angeles55916%23%43.463.85
UC Merced15911774%72%743.223.41
UC Riverside362261%67%—3.183.43
UC San Diego381334%52%—3.413.53
UC Santa Barbara301447%59%—3.453.53
UC Santa Cruz633962%68%—3.333.54

“All applicants’ rate” is the campus admit rate across all transfer applicants that year, including out-of-state and international.

Five-year trend

Campus20212022202320242025
Any UC campus73% (164/224)77% (154/201)80% (183/230)78% (211/270)76% (146/193)
UC Berkeley14% (7/50)17% (7/42)21% (9/42)9% (6/68)16% (10/64)
UC Davis42% (32/76)44% (23/52)60% (30/50)54% (38/70)46% (35/76)
UC Irvine28% (10/36)24% (5/21)47% (18/38)26% (14/53)24% (12/50)
UC Los Angeles— (—/36)26% (9/35)18% (7/39)22% (11/49)16% (9/55)
UC Merced69% (129/187)72% (123/170)76% (148/196)73% (167/230)74% (117/159)
UC Riverside45% (18/40)43% (21/49)46% (19/41)43% (20/47)61% (22/36)
UC San Diego41% (11/27)48% (15/31)53% (17/32)53% (24/45)34% (13/38)
UC Santa Barbara33% (11/33)22% (6/27)59% (13/22)44% (23/52)47% (14/30)
UC Santa Cruz55% (36/65)41% (29/70)51% (34/67)59% (57/97)62% (39/63)

Admit rate, with admitted / applied in parentheses.

Where would your GPA land?

Enter your GPA to compare yourself with students from Merced College who were admitted to each campus.

Source: University of California Office of the President, UC Information Center, Admissions by source school. Freshman counts are fall terms; transfer counts are the academic year starting that fall. Average GPAs are UC’s weighted, capped high school GPA (transfer GPA for colleges). “—” means UC suppressed a small count. This site is independent and not affiliated with the University of California. Admit rates describe past applicants, not any individual student’s chances.