Applicants for graduate study at UC San Diego fill out an online application through gradapply.ucsd.edu. Required documents, including transcripts, statements of purpose, supplementary information, and department-specific materials, are uploaded by the applicant onto the online application. For more information about the application process please view our Admissions Requirements and Procedures. The application is first reviewed by the department, and then reviewed by the Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs.
Applicants interested in attending UC San Diego School of Medicine, Skaggs School of Pharmacy, or the Rady School of Management’s MBA program should contact their school of interest directly for information on how to apply.
You may apply to more than one program at UC San Diego, but you may not apply to more than one program within the same department.
For example, if a department offers both Master's and PhD programs, you may only apply to one program. If a school, such as the School of Global Policy and Strategy, offers multiple programs, you may only apply to one of these programs. However, you may apply to both the Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science and Engineering programs, as they are different departments.
You can check the status of your application by returning to the application website and logging in to your account. If your application status says “Submitted”, then your application has been received.
You can check your status by logging onto https://gradapply.ucsd.edu/.
The following areas of the application can be added to and/or updated online after submission: contact information, transcripts, CV/Resumes, and writing samples or additional miscellaneous documents. Please contact your department directly for any other changes and/or additions to your application. Department contact information is listed on our website.
The admissions response time varies by department. Applications are reviewed at the departmental level by admissions committees. Decisions are made throughout the year. Some departments include information regarding the status of their decision process on their website. The official notification of admission will come from the Graduate Admissions office. Your Application Status page will update as soon as a decision has been made.
Once a decision has been made, an email will be sent from the Dean of the Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs to the email address provided in the application. The email will direct you to the decision letter. Please note that the decision cannot be given over the telephone. To view your decision status online, please log into your account at https://gradapply.ucsd.edu/
The application cannot be deleted. As long as you do not submit your application, the department will not be able to make an admission decision on your application.
Normally, duplication of advanced academic degrees—MA, MS, PhD—is not permitted. A duplicate academic degree is one at the same level (e.g., a second master’s degree or second PhD), regardless of the discipline or the specialization awarding the degree. A professional degree at the master’s or doctoral level (e.g., AuD, DMA, EdD, MAS, MBA, MCEPA, MD, MEd, MEng, MF, MFA, MIA, MPP, PharmD) is not regarded as a duplicate of an academic degree.
Students who already hold an advanced academic degree may be admitted to UC San Diego to pursue a second advanced academic degree at the same level only under limited circumstances, and only with the consent of the Graduate Council.
If you hold an advanced degree and are unsure if it is at the same level as the degree for which you will be applying, please email us at gradadmissions@ucsd.edu.
Contact the department you are considering. They will assist you through the readmission process. Since you have already attended UC San Diego as a registered graduate student, do not apply using the online application. This is for initial admission to UC San Diego only.
No, there is no separate application for students interested in transferring to UCSD from another institution. You will need to use the online application . It is recommended that you contact your department of interest before applying.
Please refer to our policy on Transferring Credits.
It may be possible to enroll in individual graduate level courses through UC San Diego Extension’s Concurrent Enrollment program.
Please visit the UC San Diego Extension website or call (858) 534-3400 for more information.
The majority of departments admit students for the fall quarter only with applications typically submitted one year in advance. For admission information specific to your department of interest, please visit the department’s website.