Where San Diego County's high school grads get into the UC system

This table, in plain English

What it measures: for each San Diego County high school, how many admissions its graduating class earned to the six most selective UC campuses (Berkeley, UCLA, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Irvine, Davis), per 100 seniors. Higher score = the class graduated with more UC options on the table. It comes straight from the University of California's own school-by-school admissions counts.

How to read one row: Canyon Crest Academy's 93 means its seniors earned 93 selective-UC admissions for every 100 students in the class. For scale, the median California high school scores about 18; the median San Diego County school scores 22, and the median school on this list scores 37.

The story in one sentence: San Diego County's UC pipeline is overwhelmingly public — seven of the top ten — and the second-strongest school in the county is one that admits only students who would be the first in their families to finish college.

One honest caution: the Reach Score is not an admit rate. A student admitted to three UC campuses counts three times — it measures the breadth of options a class earned, which is why an exceptional school can score above 100. The full definition is below the table.

5 takeaways

1. Public schools take seven of the top ten. Canyon Crest Academy (93), Del Norte (74), Westview (74) and La Jolla High (63) all outrank every private school in the county but one. San Diego looks like Orange County here, and unlike Los Angeles.
2. The county's #2 school was built for first-generation students. The Preuss School UCSD — a charter on the UC San Diego campus that enrolls only low-income students who would be the first generation in their family to earn a four-year degree — scores 86, second countywide and ahead of every private.
3. The top is flatter here than in Los Angeles or Orange County. Only seven San Diego County schools clear a Reach Score of 50, and none reaches 100. Los Angeles has 59 above 50 and six above 100. San Diego's strength is spread across many good schools rather than concentrated in a few.
4. The High Tech High network places three campuses in the top twenty. High Tech High (41), High Tech High Mesa (39) and High Tech High Media Arts (37) all land there — a project-based, lottery-admission network posting numbers roughly double the statewide median.
5. The Bishop's School leads the privates, but three publics lead it. Bishop's scores 69, the strongest private showing in the county. Canyon Crest, Preuss, Del Norte and Westview all finish above it.

How to read the Reach Score: admissions to the six most selective UC campuses (Berkeley, UCLA, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Irvine, Davis) per 100 graduating seniors. A student admitted to several campuses counts at each — which is why an exceptional school can score above 100. It measures the breadth of a class's UC options, not an admit rate.

Coverage: the top 40 San Diego County schools with published 2025 UC outcomes and at least 50 seniors. Schools whose data failed integrity checks are excluded, as are schools that filed UC applications but recorded no admissions. School-level admit counts include all admits (UC publishes no breakout of recruited athletes or other categories). Source: University of California Office of the President, freshman application/admission counts by school, Fall 2025; enrollment from CDE / Private School Affidavit. See the full methodology.