How to Apply to UC Irvine’s Public Health Major: A BA in Public Health Policy and a BS in Public Health Sciences From the Joe C. Wen School, No Extra Admission Requirement Beyond First-Year Admission, and the Path for Domestic, International (Including Chinese) and Transfer Applicants

The University of California, Irvine (UCI) is a public university in California. The undergraduate public health programs come from the Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health, with two degrees: the BA in Public Health Policy and the BS in Public Health Sciences, plus minors in Public Health, Global Health and Health Informatics and a certificate. The school says it has roughly 1,500 undergraduates at any time and that UC Irvine was the first UC campus to offer undergraduate degrees in public health. This guide summarises UCI’s published information for fall 2027 entry for U.S. applicants, international applicants, applicants from China and transfer students. A separate guide covers UCI’s life-science and health-related majors in general; this one is about public health only.

1. Degree and program

• BA in Public Health Policy: the curriculum focuses on determinants of health status, social and behavioral health science, and health policy and management.
• BS in Public Health Sciences: draws on the biological aspects of public health, including epidemiology, genetics, environmental and global health sciences, infectious diseases and chronic diseases.
• Relationship between the two: the catalogue says a change from one degree to the other is possible but requires completing the lower- and upper-division courses specified for each, and a student may enroll in both (a double major) by completing all requirements of each. The school’s catalogue page adds that students may not enter as a double major but may apply after their first quarter with the school’s approval; between the two public health degrees only seven courses may overlap (PUBHLTH 1, 2, 101, MATH 2A, 2B, STATS 7 or 8, and PUBHLTH 195W); and Public Health Sciences cannot be double majored with Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nursing Science, Biomedical Engineering: Premedical, or any School of Biological Sciences major or minor.
• Practicum (required): both degrees require the Public Health Practicum: PUBHLTH 195P (Public Health Practicum, 4 units) and PUBHLTH 195W (Writing for Public Health Practice, 4 units, which meets the upper-division writing requirement). Students choose a placement from the approved site catalog and interview there, and spend 100 hours (about 10 hours a week) at the organization during the quarter of 195P. The practicum is open only to upper-division students in good standing who have completed the prerequisites and submitted a graduation application; 195P is Pass/Not Pass and 195W needs a C or better.
• Honors: the catalogue describes a Public Health Honors Research Program of three quarters (PUBHLTH H192A–H192B–H192C) plus supervised PUBHLTH 199 research, ending with a presentation and an honors thesis; admission is by invitation and/or application in the spring quarter of the junior year.
• Time to degree: students entering directly from high school are expected to finish within five years (15 full-time quarters, not counting summers); junior transfers within three years (9 quarters), including any minors or double majors.
• STEM designation and accelerated or 4+1 master’s paths: not on the undergraduate pages we read; not published there. The catalogue lists graduate programs such as the Master of Public Health and an M.D./M.P.H. dual degree, but no undergraduate-to-master’s pathway; ask a school advisor.
• Pre-med: both degree pages say students interested in a premedical program need additional courses beyond the public health degree requirements. The catalogue adds that pre-professional training can be done by majoring in Public Health Sciences or Public Health Policy and specializing the degree to the requirements of the professional school.

2. How you get into the major, and the bar

• First-year applicants: the school’s undergraduate admissions page says all students applying to the school must meet UCI’s first-year admission requirements and that there are no additional admission requirements for the undergraduate programs. Applications go through the UC application (opens 1 August; submitted 1 October–30 November). Whether your major choice on the application affects the decision, and whether Public Health has a seat cap, is not stated on the pages we read; ask the school’s undergraduate advisors and the admissions office.
• Change of major for current students: the school says you may apply through Student Access after completing all prerequisites with grades posted, or the application is denied. Applications are due the Friday of week 5 of a quarter with decisions the Friday of week 7. Meeting the requirements “does not guarantee acceptance”, and a minimum progress criterion is also considered. The College of Health Sciences change-of-major page separately says that, because of strict limits on admitted students and rigid sequencing of upper-division courses, major changes will ordinarily be considered only in the summer immediately preceding the sophomore and junior years. Both statements appear on the UCI pages; check the latest.
  • Into the BA: UC cumulative GPA 2.0; a 2.0 in the quarter right before the change; Public Health 1, Public Health 2 and statistics (the page says Stats 7/Stats 8) with a combined GPA of 2.5 or better; 2.50 or better in all UCI courses already taken that count toward the BA; 3.00 or better in all transferred courses that count toward the BA.
  • Into the BS: the same cumulative and quarterly GPA; Public Health 1, Public Health 2, Chem 1A, Chem 1B, Bio Sci 93 and Bio Sci 94 with a combined 2.5 or better; 2.50 or better in UCI courses that count toward the BS; 3.00 or better in transferred courses that count.
• Science course seats: the school says courses in Biological Sciences (93–99), General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry are restricted to Public Health Sciences and other STEM majors, and Public Health Policy (BA) majors do not receive priority access to these science courses.

3. Preparation and curriculum

• High school math, biology and other specific requirements for Public Health: not on the undergraduate pages we read. UCI’s first-year rule is the UC A-G requirement: 2 years of history, 4 of English, 3 of mathematics (4 recommended, including algebra, geometry and advanced algebra), 2 of laboratory science (3 recommended), 2 of a language other than English (3 recommended), 1 of visual and performing arts and 1 college-preparatory elective, with at least a 3.0 GPA in those 15 courses (3.4 for non-California residents) and no grade below C.
• BA curriculum (catalogue): lower division, PUBHLTH 1, 2, 5 (Foundations of One Health), 7A and 7B (Public Health Statistics); two of PUBHLTH 10, 30, 60, 80, 90; three social science courses from anthropology, economics, international studies, political science, psychology, sociology or social ecology; upper division, PUBHLTH 101 (Introduction to Epidemiology), 122 (Health Policy), 144 (Health Behavior Theory) and 170 (Introduction to Global Health); four courses from the Health, Policy, Society, and Behavior topic area and four more upper-division courses; plus the practicum.
• BS curriculum (catalogue): lower division, PUBHLTH 1, 2 and 7A; BIO SCI 93, 94, 90L, 97, 98, 99; General Chemistry CHEM 1A–1B–1C with labs 1LC and 1LD; Organic Chemistry CHEM 51A–51B–51C with labs 51LB and 51LC; Calculus MATH 2A–2B or MATH 5A–5B; three social science courses; upper division, PUBHLTH 101 and 122, one of PUBHLTH 102 or 144, two of BIO SCI D103, D104, E109 and N110, and three more upper-division courses with at least two from the Public Health Sciences topic area; plus the practicum.
• AP/IB credit: the admissions pages say scores of 3, 4 or 5 on College Board AP exams earn credit toward graduation at UCI, and IB Higher Level scores of 5, 6 or 7 earn credit; unit and subject credit is in UCI’s AP and IB credit chart. How this maps to specific public health courses is not stated on the pages we read.

4. Rounds, deadlines and materials (fall 2027)

• Filing period: UCI’s dates page gives the fall 2027 UC application submission period as 1 October–30 November. The school page gives 1 August as the opening date. Early action or early decision is not mentioned on the pages we read, and the dates page lists a single filing period.
• Testing: UCI does not consider SAT or ACT scores for admission or scholarships; after enrollment they may be used for class placement or some graduation requirements.
• Essays: the UC Personal Insight Questions: first-year applicants answer four of eight, each up to 350 words.
• Review: comprehensive review. Factors UCI lists include academic GPA in A-G courses (with extra points for UC-certified honors courses), coursework beyond the minimum, the number and results of honors, AP, IB Higher Level and transferable college courses, UC identification in the top 9 percent of the high school class (Eligible in the Local Context), the quality of the senior-year program, special talents and achievements, performance in light of personal circumstances, and the location of your school and residence.
• Letters of recommendation, interviews and the application fee amount: not on the admissions pages we read; see the UC application.
• Separate application for Public Health? The school says the undergraduate programs have no additional admission requirements and the pages we read do not mention a separate application; a second application applies only to current students changing major (section 2).

5. Three kinds of applicants

U.S. (domestic) applicants

• In-state and out-of-state tuition: the Registrar’s 2026-27 table (Tuition Stability Plan, fall 2026 entry): Student Services Fee $1,386 and tuition $14,202 a year, plus campus fees and student health insurance ($3,213.90); the California resident total is $20,105.05 a year; nonresidents also pay Nonresident Supplemental Tuition of $39,270 for a total of $59,375.05 a year. New students also pay a one-time $183 Document Fee (not included in those totals), and all first-year students pay a $55 Writing Placement Fee.
• A Public Health program surcharge: not shown on the fee page; not published there.
• In-state preference: the A-G GPA minimum is 3.0 for California residents and 3.4 for non-residents; anything else on this topic is not stated on the pages we read.

International applicants

• Can you study Public Health? The pages we read set no extra restriction for international students on this major; not published there.
• Eligibility: complete secondary education and earn the certificate that admits you to a university in your country, and not have enrolled in college after high school. The following subjects must be completed with a minimum average GPA of 3.4: two years of history (your own country’s history instead of U.S. history), four years of the language of instruction, three years (four recommended) of college-preparatory math, two years (three recommended) of college-preparatory science covering two of biology, chemistry and physics, two years (three recommended) of a language other than the language of instruction, one year of visual and performing arts and one additional year from the subjects above.
• English: decided by your secondary school’s language of instruction, not by citizenship; if you had less than three years of English instruction, show it with ACT English 24, SAT Writing and Language 31 or SAT EBRW 680, AP English Language or Literature 3–5, IB SL English (Language A) 6–7 or HL 5–7, IELTS 6.5, TOEFL iBT 4.5 (new scale from January 2026) or 80 (before), Duolingo 115, or a C or better in a UC-transferable English composition course. UC does not accept MyBest TOEFL or IELTS One Skill Retake; only the highest composite score from a single sitting counts.
• Aid and proof of funds: UCI’s Financial Aid and Scholarships office says international students are not eligible for federal or state aid. The amount of funds to certify and any undergraduate scholarships for international students were not on the pages we read; contact the UCI International Center and admissions. UCI also says it does not partner with agents and that applications completed by someone else violate university policy.
• Work or internship limits: not stated on the pages we read.

Applicants from China

• Education and transcripts: the international page’s China entry says you must complete 12 years of education and receive your certificate of graduation, and it requires you to report all coursework from grades 9–12. If you are completing both the Chinese national curriculum and an international curriculum (AP, IGCSE/A-Levels or IB), report all courses and internal grades from grades 9 to 12 under Academic History and any international exams, including planned ones, on the International Exams page.
• Gaokao: how it is used is not stated on the pages we read; contact UCI Undergraduate Admissions.
• Huikao materials: not stated on the pages we read.
• China-specific notes for Public Health: none beyond the China entry.

6. Transfer students

• School page: junior-level applicants with the highest grades overall who satisfactorily complete the lower-division requirements get preference for the BA and BS.
• Into the BA: a UC-transferable cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 and at least 3.0 in the required courses; one year of social science in any combination of anthropology, economics, international studies, social ecology, sociology, political science and/or psychology (transfer major requirements page); the TAG program asks for a 3.4 cumulative GPA.
• Into the BS: a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 and at least 3.0 in the required courses; one year of general chemistry with laboratory and one year equivalent to UCI’s Biological Sciences 93 and 94; TAG asks for a 3.4.
• Timing: all major requirements must be completed by the end of the spring term before the fall quarter you enter. The filing period is again 1 October–30 November, and the Transfer Academic Update has a priority deadline of 31 January. New transfer students who want to change into Public Health on arrival must meet the criteria before Summer Orientation in June; otherwise they attend orientation for the major they were admitted to and follow the continuing-student rules.
• International transfers: the same transfer eligibility and major requirements as everyone else; English is met by two UC-transferable English composition courses (UC-E) with a C or better, and English courses taken outside the U.S. where English is not the main language of instruction cannot be used. The institution must be recognized by its ministry of education or equivalent, and technical or vocational coursework earns no transfer credit. You must report your full academic history, but official transcripts are not required with the application.

Checklist

U.S. applicants:

• Submit the UC application by 30 November meeting the first-year requirements (3.0 GPA in A-G courses); no SAT or ACT; the school says there are no additional requirements for the undergraduate programs
• Plan for the required 100-hour public health practicum (PUBHLTH 195P and 195W) as an upper-division student

International applicants (including China):

• Same UC application route as domestic applicants (no separate international route was on the pages we read), with a 3.4 average in the required subjects; show English if you had under three years of English instruction
• Chinese students report every course from grades 9–12; how the Gaokao is used is not published, so ask admissions
• UCI says international students are not eligible for federal or state aid; ask about proof of funds and scholarships

Transfer students:

• 3.0 cumulative and in required courses; a year of social science for the BA, or a year of general chemistry with lab plus Bio Sci 93/94 equivalents for the BS

Sources: UC Irvine, Wen School of Population & Public Health: Undergraduate Programs; BA in Public Health Policy; BS in Public Health Sciences; School: Undergraduate Admissions; Catalogue: Joe C. Wen School; Catalogue: BA; Catalogue: BS; Change of Major requirements (College of Health Sciences); Dates & Deadlines; First-Year Students; International Students; Transfer major requirements; 2026-27 undergraduate fees; Financial aid for international students. Information is for fall 2027 entry (costs are 2026-27 figures); check UCI’s website for the latest.