Private vs public high schools in San Diego County: UC outcomes side by side (Fall 2025)

Do private or public high schools in San Diego County get more students into the UC system?

In San Diego County the 17 private high schools with a 2025 UC Reach Score have a median of 33 and a top score of 68 (The Bishop's School), and the 77 public high schools have a median of 21 and a top score of 93 (Canyon Crest Academy); pooled, private schools show 32.9 UC admits per 100 seniors and public schools 25.0.

Group	Schools with a score	Median UC Reach Score	Top UC Reach Score	UC admits per 100 seniors (pooled)
Private	17	33	68	32.9
Public	77	21	93	25.0

Which private high schools in San Diego County have the best UC outcomes?

The highest-scoring private high school in San Diego County is The Bishop's School at 68, and 9 of the 10 private schools in the table publish a tuition figure.

#	School	City	Tuition	UC Reach Score	UC admits 2025	Seniors	Publishes a counted college list
1	The Bishop's School	La Jolla	$52,500 2026-27	68	87	127	Yes
2	Cambridge School	San Diego	$31,980	52	14	27	Yes
3	Francis W Parker School	San Diego	$49,100 2026-27	49	69	141	Yes
4	La Jolla Country Day School	La Jolla	$48,900 2026-27	49	58	119	Yes
5	Pacific Ridge School	Carlsbad	$47,250 2026-27	38	46	120	No
6	Mater Dei Catholic High School	Chula Vista	$21,750 2026-27	35	104	294	No
7	Santa Fe Christian School	Solana Beach	$28,680 2026-27	33	38	114	No
8	Academy Our Lady of Peace	San Diego	$26,250 2026-27	33	60	181	No
9	Cathedral Catholic High School	San Diego	$22,137 2026-27	33	131	399	No
10	Grauer School	Encinitas	—	30	7	23	No

Which public high schools match them?

The highest-scoring public high school in San Diego County is Canyon Crest Academy at 93, and 10 of the top 10 public schools score at or above 30, the score of the 10th private school in the table above.

#	School	City	UC Reach Score	UC admits 2025	Seniors	Publishes a counted college list
1	Canyon Crest Academy	San Diego	93	506	546	No
2	Preuss School UCSD	La Jolla	86	99	115	No
3	Westview High School	San Diego	74	403	543	No
4	Del Norte High School	San Diego	74	473	643	No
5	La Jolla High	La Jolla	62	180	288	No
6	Gompers Preparatory Academy	San Diego	47	72	152	No
7	Scripps Ranch High	San Diego	43	198	463	No
8	Del Lago Academy	Escondido	42	77	182	No
9	San Dieguito Academy	Encinitas	42	231	547	No
10	Torrey Pines High School	San Diego	41	265	642	No

Does the gap hold at the same GPA?

Among 13 private high schools in San Diego County with enough Fall 2024 UC applicants to measure (applicants averaging a 3.99 GPA), 23.1% of applicants were admitted where their GPAs predict 21.9%; among 67 public high schools (applicants averaging a 3.95 GPA), 23.6% were admitted where their GPAs predict 21.8%.

Group	Schools measured	UC applicants 2024	Average applicant GPA	Admitted	Expected at that GPA
Private	13	3,124	3.99	23.1%	21.9%
Public	67	32,341	3.95	23.6%	21.8%

UC publishes applicant GPA a year behind its admit counts, and 2024 is the latest year it covers private schools. "Expected" is the admit rate the statewide curve for each of the six campuses predicts from a school's applicant GPA, summed over its applicants; the same method as the GPA-performance table on the rankings. Only schools with at least 30 applications across at least three campuses are measured.

What families are also buying at a private school

Parents are not only shopping for college outcomes. The tables above count UC admits, and a high school is also four years of a teenager's days: who they spend them with, what the school asks them to value, and whether the adults know them.

Families who choose a private school in San Diego County are usually weighing some of these:

Community and values fit. A private school sets its own mission and expectations, and the application, the entrance exam and the interview work as a fit signal in both directions. Of the 16 private schools here with an affiliation on file, 11 are religiously affiliated and 5 are nonsectarian.
Class size. The National Center for Education Statistics' Private School Survey (2022) lists 10 of these private schools at 5.8 to 17.6 students per teacher.
Size of the school. The 17 private schools here with an enrollment count on file enrolled 157 to 1,661 students, with a median of 758.
Advising. Each private school builds its own college-advising model, so the useful question is how many students each counselor carries and how early the work starts.
Arts and athletics access. A smaller school can mean more students on each team and in each production; ask each school what participation looks like.

Public schools are a great choice when a family cannot afford a private school, and the public table above shows how each of them does with UC admissions.

Every school in San Diego County is on the San Diego County school list; the county rankings rank them against each other. Other counties are on the private vs public index, and a single private school can be set beside its nearest strong public school on the worth-the-tuition pages.

UC Reach Score is top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors in 2025, counted at each campus, so a student admitted to several campuses counts at each. "Public" means district and charter schools with at least 100 seniors, as in the rankings (online, independent-study and alternative programs are left out); private schools of any size are included. Pooled admits per 100 seniors adds each group's admits and divides by its seniors; a "~" marks a senior count the data estimates. Schools with no UC admit counts for 2025 are not in either group. Tuition comes from each school's own admissions pages and is shown only where the school publishes it. A school "publishes a counted college list" when its own published list carries a count beside each college. The list excludes nonclassroom-based online schools and schools the California Department of Education records with no 12th grade.