Is it generally harder to get admitted to UC Berkeley than UC San Diego?

Yes. In overall freshman admissions, UC Berkeley is generally harder to get into than UC San Diego.

One concrete difference is institutional position within the UC system. Berkeley is one of the two most sought-after UC campuses statewide and nationally, so it tends to draw especially high-volume applications from students with very strong academic records, advanced coursework, and standout extracurricular profiles. That raises the bar even before major-specific factors come into play.

Another difference is applicant behavior and yield. More admitted students are likely to choose Berkeley over many other options, which lets Berkeley be more selective in shaping its class. UC San Diego is absolutely a highly competitive school, but in broad admissions conversations it is usually discussed a tier below Berkeley in overall difficulty.

That said, the gap is not so huge that Berkeley is unreachable while UC San Diego is easy. Both schools deny many qualified applicants, and both use holistic review within the UC framework, including grades, course rigor, activities, and context. So the clearest answer is that Berkeley is tougher overall, while UC San Diego remains very competitive in its own right.