University of California, Merced

University of California, Merced is a public, state school located in the small town setting of Merced, CA, less than an hour from Fresno.

the institution currently enrolls around 9,018 students a year, including 8,276 undergrads. The institution runs on a academic calendar.

2021 Admissions Facts About UC Merced

Acceptance rate: 85%

Average GPA: 3.55

Mean ACT score: 20

Mean SAT score: 1050

Early Decision or Early Action: No/No

2022 Regular Decision Deadline: November 30

2022 Regular Decision Notification Date: March 1

UC Merced Acceptance Rate 2021

UC Merced is a moderately difficult school to get accepted to. Around 85 percent of all applicants to UC Merced are accepted each year.

The average high school GPA for a student at UC Merced is 3.55 on a 4.0 scale. Admitted students have a mean score of 1050 on the SAT. The mean ACT scores is 20.

In 2021, 0 applicants were waitlisted and 0 waitlisted students got accepted.

Is UC Merced a good school?

The definition of a "good school" is different for different people. Admissions difficulty and admitted student statistics can give you a sense of how selective a college is, but they don't tell you how happy or successful students are.

Retention, graduation rates, and job placement statistics can help you understand how satisfied students are with their school experience, and how effectively an institution prepares students for careers.

Retention and graduation rates

About 86 percent of students who start at UC Merced return for their second year of college. Out of the 1,548 students who started at UC Merced as first-time freshman, 690 graduate within four years.

Around 69 percent of students who started at UC Merced earn their Bachelor's degrees within six years. The average six-year graduation rate for U.S. colleges and universities is 61 percent for public schools, and 67 percent for private, non-profit schools.

Job outcomes and student debt

Job placement rates after graduation, average starting salaries, and the debt students graduate with can all give important clues about the value of a degree from a specific school. Graduates in the class of 2021 had an average of $17,413 in student loans per borrower. For context, compare this number with the average national debt, which is around $36,000 per borrower.

Based on this information, how does UC Merced sound? Remember, a school that is perfect for one person may be a terrible fit for another! So the real question to ask yourself: is UC Merced a good school for YOU?

Thinking of applying to UC Merced for Fall 2022?

Click the heart icon to save UC Merced to your own personal list of colleges that you're interested in applying to!

The deadline to apply to UC Merced for Fall 2022 is November 1. All applicants should hear back from UC Merced by March 1.

Read on to find out more about the admissions requirements and deadlines, student life, academics and majors and more. You can also see what others are saying about UC Merced in the College Confidential forums and get personalized recommendations for more schools that might be a good fit for you.