UCLA is harder to get into than USC by overall acceptance rate. For the most recent admissions cycles, UCLA has admitted roughly 8% to 9% of first-year applicants, while USC has admitted around 12%. Both are highly selective, but UCLA consistently posts a lower acceptance rate, receives more applications, and admits students with slightly higher academic profiles on average.
That said, the answer shifts depending on your major, whether you’re applying as a freshman or transfer, and what kind of applicant you are. Here’s how the two schools actually compare.
Overall Acceptance Rates
UCLA receives well over 140,000 applications each year, making it one of the most applied-to universities in the country. Its acceptance rate has hovered near 9% in recent cycles. USC, which draws around 80,000 applications, admits a somewhat larger share of its applicant pool at roughly 12%. Both numbers have dropped steadily over the past decade, but UCLA’s has fallen faster.
Raw acceptance rates don’t tell the whole story, though. UCLA is a public university in the University of California system, which uses a single application for all nine undergraduate campuses. That makes it easy for students to add UCLA to their list, inflating the applicant pool with candidates who might not have applied if it required a separate application. USC requires its own application (through the Common App), so its applicant pool tends to be more self-selected. Still, even accounting for that difference, UCLA’s admissions bar is a notch higher for the typical applicant.
Academic Profiles of Admitted Students
Admitted freshmen at UCLA carry high school GPAs in the 4.18 to 4.32 range at the middle 50th percentile, meaning the 25th to 75th percentile of students who got in. That translates to nearly straight A’s with a healthy load of honors and AP courses boosting the weighted GPA above 4.0. Middle 50% SAT scores land between 1360 and 1550, and ACT composites fall between 29 and 32.
USC’s admitted student profile is comparable but slightly more spread out. Middle 50% SAT scores typically range from about 1410 to 1540, and ACT composites from 32 to 35. GPAs for admitted students cluster in the same high range. The test score overlap between the two schools is significant, so most competitive applicants for one would be competitive for the other.
How Major Choice Changes the Odds
At both schools, certain programs are far more selective than the university-wide average suggests. UCLA publishes detailed admit rates by major, and some are strikingly low.
For UCLA’s Fall 2023 freshman class, the most competitive programs included nursing (0.8% admit rate), film and television (1.0%), computer science (3.1%), computer science and engineering (3.2%), and design/media arts (2.9%). Engineering majors across the board were tough: mechanical engineering admitted 4.2%, aerospace engineering 4.3%, and even electrical engineering, the least selective of the bunch, came in at 9.9%. Art and music composition hovered around 3.8%.
USC doesn’t publish major-level admit rates as transparently, but its most competitive units include the School of Cinematic Arts, the Iovine and Young Academy, the Viterbi School of Engineering (especially computer science), and the Thornton School of Music. Admission to USC’s film program, in particular, is often cited as comparable in difficulty to UCLA’s, with both ranking among the top film schools in the country and admitting only a small fraction of applicants.
If you’re applying to a high-demand major at either school, the university-wide acceptance rate is almost irrelevant. Your real competition is the smaller pool applying to that specific program.
Transfer Admission
UCLA is notably difficult for transfer students, though as a UC school it has a structured pathway from California community colleges through the Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) program and the Assist.org articulation system. UCLA itself does not participate in TAG, but it still prioritizes California community college transfers.
Even so, transfer admit rates at UCLA are low and vary wildly by major. For Fall 2025, computer science admitted just 5% of transfer applicants, with the middle 50% GPA essentially locked at 4.0. Film and television admitted 3%. Business economics came in at 10% with GPAs ranging from 3.89 to 4.0. Less impacted majors like sociology (41%) and political science (34%) offer more realistic odds, but still require GPAs well above 3.7.
USC accepts transfers on a rolling basis through its own application and does not have the same community college pipeline. Its transfer acceptance rate tends to be higher than UCLA’s in most fields, though still competitive. If you’re transferring from a community college, UCLA has a more defined preparation pathway, but the academic bar is extremely high.
What Each School Values Beyond Grades
Both universities use holistic admissions, meaning they look beyond GPA and test scores. But they weight different factors in different ways.
UCLA, like all UC campuses, does not consider legacy status or alumni connections. It also does not factor in demonstrated interest (campus visits, contact with admissions). The UC application asks for a personal insight essay and evaluates extracurricular activities, leadership, community service, and the context of your achievements. Admissions readers assign a holistic score that accounts for academic performance alongside obstacles a student has overcome, such as socioeconomic disadvantage, first-generation college status, or attending an under-resourced high school.
USC, as a private university, has more flexibility. It considers demonstrated interest, legacy connections, and donations alongside academic merit and personal qualities. USC also conducts alumni interviews for some applicants and weighs recommendation letters, which the UC system does not require. If you have a strong personal narrative or institutional connections, USC’s process may give those factors more room to influence the decision.
Test-Optional Policies
UCLA and the entire UC system made standardized testing permanently test-free starting with the 2021 admissions cycle. That means SAT and ACT scores are not considered at all, even if you submit them. Your GPA, course rigor, essays, and activities carry the full weight.
USC has maintained a test-optional policy, meaning you can choose whether to submit scores. If your scores are strong, submitting them can help. If they’re not, leaving them off won’t hurt you. This is a meaningful difference: at USC, a high test score can still give you a boost, while at UCLA it simply won’t be seen.
Which One Is Harder for You
On paper, UCLA is the harder admit. Lower acceptance rate, higher application volume, no legacy preference, and no way to leverage test scores or demonstrated interest. For a student with excellent grades but no special hooks, UCLA’s process is more purely numbers-driven and leaves less room to stand out through non-academic channels.
USC can be harder to crack for students in specific programs like cinematic arts or for those who don’t fit the profile the school is building for a given class. Its holistic process gives more weight to intangible qualities, which cuts both ways: it can help you if you bring something unique, or work against you if your profile is strong but undifferentiated.
If you’re choosing where to apply, apply to both. The overlap in admitted student profiles is large enough that most students competitive for one school are competitive for the other. Your major choice, essays, and the specifics of your application will matter more than any gap in institutional selectivity.