Admissions and enrollment explained
A higher admit rate can lead to a similar enrollment share
Within the same 51 California high schools, UC Davis admitted 30.6% of applicants and UCLA admitted 9.4% in Fall 2025. Yet both campuses enrolled about five students per 100 applicants. The difference is enrollment yield: the share of admitted students who enrolled.
Three measures, three different questions
| Measure | Calculation | Question answered |
|---|---|---|
| Admit rate | Admits ÷ applicants | What share of applicants received an offer? |
| Enrollment yield | Enrollees ÷ admits | What share of admitted students enrolled? |
| Enrollment per applicant | Enrollees ÷ applicants | What share of applicants ultimately enrolled? |
Compare the four campuses within the same school group
Keeping the schools fixed makes the reporting basis clearer. It still does not establish that the same students applied to each campus.
| Campus | Applicants | Admits | Enrolled | Admit rate | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA | 14,634 | 1,377 | 715 | 9.4% | 51.9% |
| UC Berkeley | 13,113 | 1,746 | 987 | 13.3% | 56.5% |
| UC Davis | 12,600 | 3,860 | 595 | 30.6% | 15.4% |
| UC San Diego | 14,880 | 2,858 | 695 | 19.2% | 24.3% |
Put both rates over one common denominator
These bars express enrolled students per 100 applicants. UC Davis and UCLA finish close to each other on this measure, despite the different proportions receiving offers.
For UC Davis, 595 enrolled ÷ 12,600 applicants = 4.7%. For UCLA, 715 ÷ 14,634 = 4.9%. This is arithmetic within each campus’s cohort, not evidence about which offers the same individual students received.
Use this distinction when reading a school profile
- Choose one campus and year so the counts refer to the same entering group.
- Read applicants and admits together to understand the admit rate.
- Compare enrollees with admits to understand yield.
- Use several years and the school’s own context before interpreting a one-year change.
The counselor resource page offers a short guide to using these figures in family conversations. The dataset describes outcomes; it does not explain students’ enrollment decisions.
Look up your school’s own results
These study groups have specific reporting requirements. Your school’s profile may still have useful data even if it is outside a study group.
Source, method and limitations
Include California public and private high schools reporting at least 50 applicants, at least 20 admits, and complete applicants/admits/enrollees at UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis and UC San Diego in Fall 2025. The same 51 schools contribute to each campus. This selects schools with substantial, fully reported outcomes at all four campuses and does not represent all high schools. Campus applicants are not matched individuals.
Calculated from the site’s existing California public and private high-school records in the University of California admissions by source school dataset. All figures here use individual-campus records. A student may apply to more than one campus, so cross-campus application totals do not represent unique people.
Rates are ratios of summed reported counts, rather than averages of school percentages. Missing or suppressed counts are excluded under the stated rules and are never changed to zero. These are selected school cohorts, not campus-wide acceptance rates. Applicant characteristics can change even when the schools stay the same. Historical outcomes do not predict one student’s chances or show that a particular high school causes an admissions advantage.
Download analyzed counts and cohort school IDs (JSON). The calculation script reproduces the analysis from the existing source records.
For the separate preliminary campus-wide release, see Fall 2026 UC acceptance rates. The source-school methodology guide explains the underlying fields.
Questions about this comparison
What is the difference between admit rate and enrollment yield?
Admit rate is admitted students divided by applicants. Enrollment yield is enrolled students divided by admitted students. They describe different steps and have different denominators.
Does a low yield mean a university is worse?
No. The counts do not reveal why admitted students enrolled elsewhere or did not enroll. They cannot distinguish factors such as other offers, cost, location, programs or personal preferences.
Can I multiply admit rate by yield?
Yes, when the counts describe the same school or cohort, campus and entering year: admits/applicants × enrolled/admits = enrolled/applicants. Do not multiply rates from different populations or years.