UCD / How to get in
How to Get Into UCD
For CAO applicants (Irish, UK and EU), UCD sits in the most competitive tier of Irish universities, with an offer rate around 13-19% across its course portfolio and roughly 26,000 CAO applications in 2024. Admission is points-based: your grades alone decide the outcome for almost every course. Non-EU international applicants apply directly to UCD on a rolling basis and generally have a higher chance of an offer, since places are assessed course by course against academic and English-language requirements rather than a single national points race. Medicine and Veterinary Medicine are the sharp exceptions and remain highly selective. Here is the academic profile that keeps you in the running, what UCD weighs most, and where to put your energy.
Every college publishes how heavily it weighs each part of your application in its Common Data Set. Here is how UCD reads applicants, most important first.
- Course rigor
- Grades (GPA)
- Test scores
- Class rank
UCD requires SAT or ACT scores.
Applications open 1 October · Non-EU Medicine deadline 31 January · Non-EU general (visa-required, recommended) By 1 July · EU/Irish/UK via CAO Standard CAO deadline (early February). Applying early (Early Action or Early Decision, where offered) can modestly improve your odds and signals commitment.
Your grades and course rigor are mostly set by now. The highest-leverage things left are your essays and how you frame your activities. UCD reads holistically, so a specific, well-told essay is where you separate yourself from other qualified applicants.
How to get into UCD: FAQ
Is UCD hard to get into?
For CAO applicants (Irish, UK and EU), UCD sits in the most competitive tier of Irish universities, with an offer rate around 13-19% across its course portfolio and roughly 26,000 CAO applications in 2024. Admission is points-based: your grades alone decide the outcome for almost every course. Non-EU international applicants apply directly to UCD on a rolling basis and generally have a higher chance of an offer, since places are assessed course by course against academic and English-language requirements rather than a single national points race. Medicine and Veterinary Medicine are the sharp exceptions and remain highly selective. At UCD, applicants clear a high academic bar first, then stand out through essays, activities, and character.
What does UCD look for in applicants?
UCD weighs course rigor, grades (gpa), and test scores most heavily, alongside a strong academic record. The parts you most control late in the process are your essays and how you present your activities.
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