University of California, Davis: insights

University of California, Davis

What UC Davis's own numbers say, from its Common Data Set 2025-26.

Who says yesUC Davis

Only 15% of admits enroll, so UC Davis admits far more students than it has seats.

Enroll15%

Go elsewhere85%

Source: UC Davis's Common Data Set 2025-26

WaitlistUC Davis

3,758 of 9,747 students who stayed on the list were admitted. Stay on it.

Admitted off the list39%

Not admitted61%

Source: UC Davis's Common Data Set 2025-26

The share of women in the first-year class has fallen from 64% to 58% since 2018-19, about 1.1 points a year.
The share of international students in the first-year class has fallen from 21% to 14% since 2018-19, about 1.1 points a year.
9,747 students stayed on the waitlist and 3,758 were admitted from it (38.6%).
Men were admitted at a lower rate: 47.7% for women against 40.3% for men.
Applications rose 32% from 2018-19 to 2025-26 (78,022 to 102,988), faster than 52% of colleges here.

From students' own posts on Reddit and admissions forums: self-reported, unverified, never used in your odds.

Most admits held leadership roles, such as club founder or president, team captain, student government or band drum major.
Many admits did research, internships or tech projects, such as lab programs, published or presented work, startup and engineering internships.
Computer science, engineering and neuroscience were common intended majors, often paired with robotics, CyberPatriot, coding or science competition work.
Many admits did hundreds of hours of service or mentoring, such as 300 to 700+ hours, along with tutoring and hospital or food bank work.
Some admits had jobs or family duties, such as retail, food service, construction work or caring for a sibling.
Students report the waitlist is large and slow, with admits released in waves from April to late June, and many treat it as a soft rejection.
Students report waitlists are not ranked and no waitlist statements are accepted, so appeals are rarely granted.
Students report admit rates differ a lot by college, such as about 35 percent for engineering and 21 percent for management, and very high GPAs are common.
Students report outcomes are hard to predict, with similar applicants getting different results, and a second-choice major may be considered.
Students report scholarship notices, such as Regents, appear in the portal after admission, and the admit letter states placement in Honors.