The 21 Most Applied to Colleges for Fall 2021
The 21 schools below received more applications than any other schools in 2021. The University of California schools were by far the most popular schools for students to apply to. Eight of the nine UC schools made the list, and the five most popular schools were all UC schools. Other California schools, like Cal Poly Slo, USC, and CSU Long Beach also made the list. Cornell was the most popular Ivy League school to apply to
1. University of California, Los Angeles
In 2021, 107,356 students applied to UCLA and only 15,352 were admitted.
2. University of California, San Diego
Out of 100,073 applications received in 2021, 38,325 students were offered admission to UC _
3. University of California, Irvine
Last year, 97,942 students applied to UCI and 29,301 were admitted.
4. University of California, Santa Barbara
90,963 students applied to UC Santa Barbara in 2021, and 33,385 were admitted.
5. University of California, Berkeley
Out of 85,682 applications received in 2021, 14,950 students were offered admission to UC Berkeley.
6. New York University
NYU received 80,210 applications in 2021, and admitted 16,918 students.
7. University of California, Davis
In 2021, 35,304 of the 76,225 students who applied to UC Davis were admitted.
8. Penn State - University Park
Penn state had 73,861 applicant in 2021, 40,031 students go accepted to Penn State - University Park..
9. California State University, Long Beach
In 2021, 67,402 students applied to CSU Long Beach and 28,400 were admitted.
10. San Diego State University
SDSU received applications from 64,784 students in 2021, and admitted 23,778 for the Class of 2025.
11. Northeastern University
NEU admitted 13,199 of the 64,459 students who applied in 2021.
12. Florida State University
In 2021, 63,691 students applied to FSU; 20,668 were offered admission.
13. Boston University
Out of 61,007 students who submitted applications to BU in 2021, 12,254 students were offered admission.
14. University of Southern California
In 2021, just 9,618 out of the 59,712 students who applied were accepted.
15. Purdue University
Purdue received 57,279 applications in 2021. Out of those, 38,479 were ad
16. The University of Texas at Austin
Out of 57,241 applications received in 2021, 18,291 students were offered admission.
17. University of California, Santa Cruz
Out of 54,041 applications received in 2021, 35,174 students were offered admission.
18. Arizona State University at Tempe
In 2021, 53,516 students applied to ASU Tempe and 47,290 were admitted.
19. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Out of 52,371 applications Cal Poly Slo received in 2021, 20,127 students were offered admission.
20. University of California, Riverside
Last year, 49,434 students applied to UC Riverside and 32,786 were admitted.
Get a student loan that goes beyond tuition.
Ascent offers cosigned and non-cosigned student loans with exclusive benefits that set students up for success.
Get Started!
Scholarship Tips
Want to find money for school that doesn’t need to be paid back? Access insights and advice on how to search and apply for scholarships!
