Capped, Impacted, and High-Demand Majors Across the UC System (2025 Update)

If you’re applying to college in California, you might have heard the words “impacted” or “capped” major thrown around. For some students, just hearing those phrases can cause instant stress. You may have heard that there are certain majors you “shouldn’t” apply for, but no one really explains why.

To make matters worse, the UC campuses don’t always make their policies clear when it comes to major selection. So if you find yourself agonizing over how to choose a major on your UC application, you’re definitely not alone.

When people talk about these selective majors, you’ll hear a jumble of different terms... Why? Because each UC has their own way of referring to selective majors... and may have completely disparate policies on how students can apply or enroll for them. Confusing, right?

Here are some of the official words the various UC campus use:

• Capped Major

• Impacted Major

• High Demand Major

• Selective Major

• Screened Major

In general, these labels mean that these are really, really, really popular majors, and many more qualified applicants apply for them than there are there are seats available. Depending on the campus, this can affect how you’re reviewed for admission and whether you can switch into that major later -- or both!

So how do you navigate this? Let’s take a campus-by-campus look at what “capped” really means, which programs are affected, and how each UC treats your your first-choice and alternate major choice.(in alphabetical order!).

UC Berkeley Capped Programs

UC Berkeley’s admissions process is famously complex because it depends on a combination which college you apply to and which major you want to study. There’s a big difference between applying to Letters & Science (L&S) versus one of Berkeley’s professional colleges, like Engineering or Chemistry.

Letters & Science (L&S): “High-Demand” Majors

L&S is Berkeley’s largest college, which houses the most "traditional" majors like Biology, Mathematics, and History. This is also the college that students will enroll in if they want to enter undeclared. However, within L&S certain majors within it are labeled “high-demand.”

According to Cal:

The opportunities for being admitted to a high-demand major after enrollment are extremely limited, and applying via comprehensive review does not guarantee a spot in a high-demand major. If you have an interest in a high-demand major in L&S, we strongly encourage you to select that high-demand major on your UC Berkeley application. If you opt to change to a high-demand major in the College of Letters & Science after being admitted to Berkeley, you will be required to have an alternate plan to declare a non-high-demand major as a back-up.

In other words, even if you’re admitted to L&S, you’re not automatically guaranteed your major. You’ll need to complete prerequisites, upon which you'll officially become a part of that major.

High-Demand Majors at Berkeley:

• Art Practice

• Operations Research & Management Science (Analytics)

• Political Economy

• Public Health

• Social Welfare
  

Direct-Admit Colleges (Outside L&S)

While Berkeley has 15 different colleges, there are 4 in particular that are considered selective. These have admit rates below the 15% we saw last year for L&S.

Selective Colleges at Berkeley:

• College of Engineering (COE) - 7% admit rate

• College of Chemistry (COC) - 11.4% admit aate

• College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS) - 4% admit rate

• Haas School of Business - 4% admit rate

With Berkeley's decision to consider applicants' first-choice major only, your application will be reviewed for that specific program only. If you aren’t admitted to that major, Berkeley will not automatically move you to another college or major. There are rumors of Berkeley occasionally considering alternate majors for waitlisted students, but those rumors have not been verified.

Haas School of Business

Berkeley’s Haas School of Business now offers two routes to an undergraduate business degree:

1. Direct Admission from High School – You can apply directly to the Business Administration or Global Management programs through the UC application.

2. Sophomore Admission – Current Berkeley students (often in L&S) apply to transfer into Haas after completing prerequisites.

Alternate-Major Policy:Berkeley only guarantees review for your first-choice major. If you’re not admitted outright to your first-choice major, you will likely not be reviewed for your alternate major.

For example, if you choose a major Haas School of Business as your first-choice and don't make the cut, then you aren't considered for admissions to the school at all.

From the website: If I don’t get admitted to the business major as a first-year, can I still be admitted to UC Berkeley? If you’re not admitted to the business major (a.k.a. the Spieker Undergraduate Business Program) as a first-year, you will not be admitted to UC Berkeley.

There is one exception: If you apply for the Management, Entrepreneurship, and Technology (MET) major and are not accepted, your application will be passed onto the School of Engineering (still selective!)

Why even ask for an alternate major then? According to the most recent UC conference, Berkeley is using that field for "data collection purposes."

The Berkeley Takeaway

If you apply to Berkeley, your major choice matters outside of L&S.

• L&S: Applying for any major has the same admit rates, including undeclared → If you want a high-demand major, list it as your first-choice (no harm!).

• COE/COC/CDSS/Haas: Admitted by major only → No alternate review (you're in or you're out!)

• Haas: can apply directly → if you're not confident, you can first apply to L&S and try to transfer as a sophomore (no guarantees though!)

UC Davis Selective Majors

UC Davis is best known for its strong agriculture and design programs. It also hosts one of the few selective studio-based majors in the UC system: Landscape Architecture.

Most Selective Majors:

• Computer Science

• Design

• Psychology

• Design

• Landscape Architecture (requires a supplemental application and portfolio after being admitted)

  
  

Alternate-Major Policy: Davis does consider alternate majors, and encourages applicants to pick an alternate major in a different college from their first-choice major.This is the first year for their new popular business major. Because the program is so small (~175 seats) and so selective (~20% acceptance), students who want a business major are encouraged to pick Managerial Economics as an alternate.

UC Irvine Selective Majors

At UCI, in case you didn't know, students are admitted directly to major. Fortunately, that doesn't impact too many programs, but you should be aware of the most applied to majors.

56% of Applicants Applied to These Top 10 Majors:

• Biological Sciences (33.2% Acceptance Rate)

• Business Administration (11.2% Acceptance Rate)

• Criminology, Law, and Society (22.3% Acceptance Rate)

• Computer Science (21.3% Acceptance Rate)

• Mechanical Engineering (18.1% Acceptance Rate)

• Nursing Science (1.1% Acceptance Rate)

• Political Science (36.2% Acceptance Rate)

• Psychology (B.S.) (16.0% Acceptance Rate)

• Public Health Sciences (45.1% Acceptance Rate)

• Undeclared (46.1% Acceptance Rate)

Alternate-Major Policy:UC Irvine does review alternate majors. Admissions officers often recommend choosing a less selective alternate major if your goal is getting admitted.

UC Los Angeles Selective Schools

Here’s one of the biggest misconceptions: UCLA’s College of Letters & Science does not have capped majors. Major choice within L&S is a neutral factor and does not play a role in determining whether a student will be admitted or denied. That means a History major will be admitted at the same rate as a Chemistry major. Additionally, the major is not binding and, for the most part, students have an opportunity to change majors within L&S. All of the selective programs are housed within UCLA’s professional schools, which admit directly by major.

Selective Schools and Programs:

• Samueli School of Engineering – All majors selective.

• School of Nursing – Direct-admit, highly competitive.

• School of Theater, Film & Television – Requires portfolio or audition.

• School of the Arts & Architecture – Portfolio-based.

Alternate-Major Policy: UCLA does not consider alternate majors at all. You can't even list it on the application. The good news is that they won't care which major you choose if you apply for L&S!

UC Merced Un-capped?

UC Merced is the youngest UC and the most open. There are no official “capped” majors, though some fields—like Computer Science—are more competitive simply due to demand. Specifically, for majors in the School of Natural Sciences and the School of Engineering, students are encouraged to complete precalculus or higher prior to applying. 

High-Interest (but not capped) Majors:

• Computer Science & Engineering

• Biological Sciences

• Mechanical Engineering

• Business Administration

Fun Fact! Instead of using a holistic approach to admissions, Merced weighs grades at 70% and nonacademic factors at 30% of the application.

Alternate-Major Policy: UC Merced does review alternate majors and is generally open to considering your second choice.

UC Santa Barbara Selective Schools

UCSB uses the word "selective" when describing their majors. Although they have approximately 20,000 undergraduates enrolled, they have somehow found a way to house all their programs in only three schools: College of Letters & Science, Robert Mehrabian College of Engineering, and College of Creative Studies.

UCSB's approach is simple, any major outside L&S is considered selective. The College of Creative Studies even requires supplemental material for faculty review!

In fact, UCSB doesn't even consider major if you're applying for Letters and Sciences. If fact, many students become a "pre-major" when they enroll and are only able to officially declare a major after meeting the prerequisites.

UCSB Letters & Sciences does have a couple selective majors that require an audition.

Audition-Based Majors:

• Dance B.A.

• Music B.M.

  
  

Alternate-Major Policy: UCSB does consider alternate majors but does now allow Engineering majors as an alternate. Students applying for Engineering can list Creative Studies as an alternate. Students applying for Creative Studies as a first-choice are encouraged to choose a major within L&S as an alternate.

UCSB Takeaway

Don't focus on major! Focus on school.

Engineering >> CCS >> L&S

This is the order of selectivity and should thus also reflect how your order your majors.

UC Riverside Capped Majors

Just like Irvine, Riverside admits students directly to major, so you don't need to worry about ranking schools. You do need to understand, though, that majors in the Bourns College of Engineering and the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences will be considered more selective, preferring students who have a UC Capped GPA above the 3.83 average.

For Fun, Here are UCR's Most Applied to Majors:

• Biology (65.2% Acceptance)

• Psychology (55.5% Acceptance)

• Business Economics (95.2% Acceptance)

• Pre-Business (75.6% Acceptance)

• Undeclared (97.5% Acceptance)

• Computer Science (29.2% Acceptance)

• Sociology (99% Acceptance)

• Mechanical Engineering (53.3% Acceptance)

  
  

Alternate-Major Policy: If your first choice is full, UCR will consider you for admission to your alternate. Aim to pick the more selective major as your first-choice!

UC San Diego Selective Majors

UCSD uses the term “selective majors” for programs that attract more students than they can accommodate.

“Selective majors are those that receive more applications than there are available spaces.”— UC San Diego Undergraduate Education

Selective and Screened Majors:

• Data Science

• Public Health

• Bioengineering

• Chemical Engineering

• Computer Science & Engineering

• Electrical & Computer Engineering

• Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

• Structural Engineering (screened effective 2025)

• NanoEngineering (screened effective 2026)

Alternate-Major Policy: UCSD does consider alternate majors. If your goal is admissions, your alternate should be a non-selective major. Check out some alternatives here! 

Thinking of transferring in? Think again!

Students who want to be considered for transfer into a selective major will be evaluated using a point system that awards one point each for:

• 3.0+ GPA in the major screening courses

• California residency

• Pell Grant eligibility

• First-generation college status (as determined by information received at the time of initial admission to UC San Diego)

Students with the highest number of points will be admitted until all available spaces within the major have been filled. Ties will be broken using random selection. There are no guarantees of approval.

Translation? If you get good grades but don't meet at least 2 of the 3 other criteria? Good luck getting in. UCSD prioritizes serving California residents, particularly first-generation college students and students from low-income families.

UC Santa Cruz Uniquely Capped

Surprise! There is only one impacted major: Computer Science B.A. and Computer Science B.S. (not surprising)

Despite being the 2nd smallest UC campus when it comes to undergraduate population size, Santa Cruz churns out C.S. graduates! On average, it graduates 700+ C.S. students a year making it the 3rd highest producer of C.S. Bachelor's degrees in the UC system.

Alternate-Major Policy: Students proposing a Computer Science major are encouraged to pick an alternate major.

Final Thoughts - What's Your Capped Strategy?

Across the UC system, the words capped, impacted, and high-demand all mean the same thing: there’s more interest than space. But how each campus handles that imbalance—and whether they’ll even look at your alternate major—varies dramatically.

Quick recap:

• UCLA & Berkeley: No alternates considered.

• Riverside & Irvine: Accept directly major. Do your research!

• Davis, San Diego, Santa Barbara: Accept by school

• Santa Cruz, Riverside, Merced: Most flexible.

• Engineering, Computer Science, Business, and Nursing: The toughest UC programs to enter, regardless of campus. Good luck trying to sneak your way in.

  
  

When planning your UC list, think strategically.

Option 1: I just want to get in!

If your ultimate goal is just getting into that college and you find yourself with capped first-choice major, balance it with a related, but less selective, alternate

Option 2: I really want to graduate with a High Demand major!

If you've always dreamed of becoming a Computer Scientist/Nurse/Business Tycoon, then you don't depend on an alternate major: your chances of transferring in later are NOT guaranteed. Instead, focus on making sure you're applying to a wide list of best fit colleges that have your intended program.

Need help building a UC strategy that fits your student’s goals? Thinque Prep’s counselors specialize in helping students identify smart alternate-major options and application strategies that maximize admission opportunities. Schedule a consultation today →

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