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

This table, in plain English

What it measures: for each Sonoma 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: Sonoma Academy's 49 means its seniors earned 49 selective-UC admissions for every 100 students in the class. For scale, the median California high school scores about 18; the median Sonoma County school scores 18 as well.

The story in one sentence: Sonoma County sits exactly at the California median, and the sharpest divide in the county is inside a single city — Santa Rosa holds the top-ranked school and the two lowest-ranked ones.

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. Santa Rosa contains both ends of the table. Sonoma Academy (49) ranks first in the county and Elsie Allen (5) ranks last, with Piner (8) and Santa Rosa High (8) just above it — all six Santa Rosa schools, spread across the entire range. No other county in this series has that spread inside one city.
2. The county median is exactly the state median. 18, against about 18 statewide — the only county in this series to land precisely on it.
3. No Sonoma school clears 50. Sonoma Academy comes closest at 49. Healdsburg (40) is the strongest public school, and Technology High in Rohnert Park (32) the strongest of the small specialised programs.
4. Maria Carrillo carries the volume. It files 369 UC applications, the most in the county, from 372 seniors, converting 29% for a score of 28 — the best result among the county's large comprehensives.
5. Conversion rates run low for an inland county. Cardinal Newman converts 15%, Sonoma Academy 19% and Analy 20% — closer to the Bay Area pattern than to the Central Valley's, which is what Sonoma's position on the map would predict.

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 16 Sonoma 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.