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

This table, in plain English

What it measures: for each San Francisco 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: Lowell High School's 71 means its seniors earned 71 selective-UC admissions for every 100 students in the class. For scale, the median California high school scores about 18. The median San Francisco school scores 52.

The story in one sentence: San Francisco's median high school scores about three times the California median — the highest of any county reporting fifteen or more schools — and the two schools converting UC applications into admissions at the highest rate are neither its famous magnet nor its elite privates.

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. San Francisco has the strongest median of any well-represented California county. Its median school scores 52, against a statewide median of about 18. No other county with at least fifteen reporting schools comes close — Santa Clara is next at 34. Thirteen of San Francisco's twenty-three reporting schools clear 50.
2. Two public schools lead, essentially tied. Lowell High School (71) and the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (70) top the table. Both are public, and both admit by application rather than neighborhood.
3. Public and private split the top ten five-five. Immaculate Conception Academy (66), San Francisco University High (60), Archbishop Riordan (59) and Sacred Heart Cathedral (57) place alongside Galileo (61), Mission (57) and George Washington (56).
4. The best conversion rates in the city belong to public schools. Mission High School turns 38% of its UC applications into admissions and San Francisco International 36% — the two highest rates in the city. Among the elite privates, Urban School converts 10% and Lick-Wilmerding 15%. A high score and a high conversion rate are different achievements.
5. Lowell is the city's volume story as well as its leader. It files 2,058 UC applications, more than any other San Francisco school, from the city's largest senior class of 642 — and still converts 22%.

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 23 San Francisco 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.