As an international student, you may apply to UC as either a first-year student or as a transfer student, depending on your level of education.
First-year applicants are students who have:
UC has slightly different admission requirements for applicants who are international students. If you're applying as a first-year applicant, you must:
*M ath courses taken in the seventh and eighth grades/intermediate school may be used to fulfill part of this requirement. Integrated math courses (e.g. Math I, Math II, etc.) with geometry content may be equated with a standard course in geometry.
Transfer applicants are students who:
If you're applying as an international transfer student, you must meet UC's admission requirements for transfer applicants.
Keep in mind: As part of the 7-course pattern, you’re required to take two transferable college courses (3 semester or 4-5 quarter units each) in English composition. UC does not accept English composition courses from international universities where English is not the language of instruction.
Application filing periods
October 1-November 30 (Decemeber 2 for fall 2025 applicants)
Winter quarter/spring semester
UC Berkeley and UC Merced are on the semester system calendar. All other campuses are on the quarter system calendar. Not all campuses are open in winter and spring. Check available majors before applying.
You must pay an $95 application fee for each campus to which you apply. However, international students enrolled in a U.S. institution may qualify for the $80 application fee.
When you apply to UC, you are required to report your complete academic history within the UC application. You don't need to submit your academic records to UC at this point, but you should refer to them as you fill out the application to ensure the information you enter is accurate.
First-year applicants
Record all courses and marks/grades earned exactly as reported by the international school — whether as numbers, letters, percentages or words.
If you sat or will sit for external exams (e.g. IGCSE/GCSE/GCE exams, Year X/XII Board exams, SPM, etc.), report your subjects and grades/scores on the International Exams page of the application, under the Test Scores tab (step 4 of 5). If you sat for the same subject more than once, you must report the grades earned from each sitting.
Transfer applicants
List hours, credits or units for coursework as noted on your academic records if their coursework is not reported as quarter or semester units, and record the marks/grades earned exactly as reported by the international school — whether as numbers, letters, percentages or words.
If you sat for GCE A-level exams, report your subjects and grades on the International Exams page of the application, under the Test Scores tab (step 4 of 5).
Sometimes it takes a significant amount of time for us to receive records from schools abroad. To help speed consideration of your application, we recommend that you make legible photocopies of your official academic records. After you submit your undergraduate application, you may be requested to send your copies to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at each campus to which you have applied.
If you are admitted, we must receive an official academic record directly from each institution you attended, beginning with grade nine for first-year applicants and up to and including the school or college/university you currently attend for transfer applicants. Each academic record must list the:
You should not submit letters of recommendation for the UC application. However, some campuses/majors may request letters of recommendation as part of a supplemental application review. Be sure to check for an email message from a campus.
In the United States, the academic record is called a "transcript." In your country it may be called something else, such as statement of marks, statement of results, relève du notes, record of learning, or record of achievement.