Which is harder to get into: UC Berkeley or UC Irvine?

UC Berkeley is harder to get into than UC Irvine. Berkeley is one of the most selective campuses in the UC system, draws a very large pool of high-achieving applicants from California and beyond, and is especially tough for popular majors like engineering, computer science, business-related paths, and biology. UC Irvine is also selective and well respected, but it is typically a step less competitive overall than Berkeley.

For a student building a balanced UC list, Berkeley usually belongs in the reach category unless the application is exceptionally strong across grades, course rigor, activities, and PIQs. Irvine can still be a reach or target depending on the applicant, especially for capped or highly subscribed majors, but it is more realistic for a wider range of strong students than Berkeley is.

The difference is not that Irvine is easy. Irvine gets many applications, has grown a lot in reputation, and can be quite difficult for sought-after programs. But Berkeley has a deeper concentration of applicants with top-end academic records and tends to be more unpredictable because so many qualified students are competing for limited space.