Research · California counties · October 2026

Where Los Angeles County High School Graduates Enroll: 389 Schools, 40 Top UC Boards

As of October 2026: Los Angeles County has 389 high schools holding UC admit data for Fall 2025, and 18 of them print their own enrollment or acceptance lists. The Webb Schools in Claremont leads the county with a UC Reach Score of 144 and 145 top-six UC admits.

A county-wide look at UC admits, Reach Scores, and the college lists that Los Angeles County schools publish themselves.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

Los Angeles County's 40 highest UC Reach Scores, Fall 2025

These are the 40 Los Angeles County high schools with the highest UC Reach Scores for Fall 2025. The score counts top-six UC admits per 100 seniors, with each campus counted on its own, so a school can pass 100. The admit rate column is the share of this school's UC applications that ended in an offer.

UC Reach Score = top-6 UC admits (counted at each campus) per 100 seniors; it can exceed 100. College-going rate is not reported for these rows.

Los Angeles County schools that publish where their graduates enroll

These 18 schools print a list of the colleges their graduates attend or were admitted to. The kind column says which: a matriculation list counts students who enrolled, while an acceptances list counts offers. The top colleges column copies the six largest counts as each school printed them.

An acceptances list runs about three times an enrollment list; never add the two. Absence from this table means the school publishes no counted list.

Which Los Angeles County high schools send the most students to the top UCs?

By raw count, Arcadia High School leads Los Angeles County with 495 top-six UC admits in Fall 2025. Diamond Bar High School follows with 418, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School with 404, and Mira Costa High School with 391.

Those four are large public high schools. A big senior class produces a big admit count even when the share per student is average. Their UC Reach Scores tell the second half of the story: 61 for Arcadia, 65 for Diamond Bar, 71 for Palos Verdes Peninsula, and 60 for Mira Costa.

Mid-size schools cluster right behind. Temple City High School shows 261 admits, Gretchen Whitney High School 222, California Academy of Mathematics & Science 218, and LA Canada High School 211. Loyola High School in Los Angeles shows 186 and Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks shows 181.

For a family, the raw count answers a simple question: how many students from this building got into a top UC campus last year. The count does not tell you the odds for one student. That is what the score and the admit rate are for.

What does a UC Reach Score of 60 mean for my child?

A UC Reach Score of 60 means the school earned about 60 top-six UC admits for every 100 seniors, with each campus counted on its own. Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach sits at 60, and Temple City High School also sits at 60.

The key is that each campus counts separately. One strong student admitted to UCLA, Berkeley, and San Diego adds three to the count. That is why the score can pass 100 without every senior getting in. The Webb Schools scores 144 and California Academy of Mathematics & Science scores 129.

So a 60 does not mean 60 percent of seniors were admitted. The true share of admitted students is lower, because the strongest applicants collect several offers each. Treat the score as a measure of how much top-UC admission activity happens at a school, scaled for size.

The practical use is comparison. A school at 60 and a school at 25 are not in the same place, even if both are good schools. When your child looks at two high schools in Los Angeles County, the score puts a large public campus and a small magnet on the same ruler.

Why do small magnet schools beat the famous private schools on this board?

California Academy of Mathematics & Science in Carson scores 129, far above Harvard-Westlake School at 62. Gretchen Whitney High School in Cerritos scores 126 and Science Academy STEM Magnet in North Hollywood scores 109.

Selective public magnets admit by test and record, then point nearly every senior at the UC system. That combination drives the score up fast. Whitney shows 222 top-six admits and a UC admit rate of 29.9 percent. The Science Academy shows 47 admits and a rate of 23.6 percent.

Harvard-Westlake shows 175 top-six admits and a UC admit rate of 19.5 percent. Its own printed list names New York University (26) as the single largest landing spot over the classes of 2021-2025, ahead of any UC campus.

That is not a weakness. It is a different destination mix. A family that wants the UC path should read the score. A family open to colleges across the country should read the printed list, where the spread of names matters more than the UC column.

Which Los Angeles County school has the highest UC admit rate?

Catch Prep Charter High in Los Angeles posts the highest UC admit rate on this board at 46.7 percent. Saint Marys Academy in Inglewood follows at 37.1 percent, then USC Hybrid High College Prep at 34.9 percent.

The admit rate is the share of a school's UC applications that ended in an offer. It answers a different question than the score. The score asks how much admission happens per 100 seniors. The rate asks how often an application from this school succeeds.

The two can move in opposite directions. Catch Prep has the top rate at 46.7 percent but only 43 top-six admits and a UC Reach Score of 90. Harvard-Westlake has 175 admits but a rate of 19.5 percent. LA Canada High School shows the lowest rate on the board at 18.6 percent with 211 admits.

For a family, the rate is a signal about application patterns at a school, not a promise about one child. Read it next to the count and the score, not on its own. A single number never settles a school choice.

Where do graduates of the Los Angeles County private schools actually enroll?

Private school graduates in Los Angeles County land in many places, and Polytechnic School in Pasadena sent 29 graduates to UC Berkeley. Its list also shows 19 each to Stanford University and the University of Southern California across the classes of 2022-2026.

The Webb Schools in Claremont printed New York University (8) at the top of its Class of 2026 list, then the University of Southern California (7) and Boston University (6). Brentwood School in Los Angeles printed the University of Michigan (9) first for the Class of 2024, then Colgate University (8).

Crossroads School in Santa Monica printed New York University (29) and the University of Southern California (27) for the classes of 2023-25. Marlborough School printed Boston U. (5) at the top for the Class of 2026, with Cornell U. (4), Harvard U. (4), and Tufts U. (4) tied behind it.

One pattern shows up in these printed lists. At these schools, no single college takes a large block of the class. The counts run in ones, threes, and fives. A parent reading these lists should expect a wide map, not one feeder route.

Which colleges show up most often on the printed lists?

The University of Southern California appears at the top of several printed lists, starting with Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy at 19 over the past three years. That same list shows the University of California, Los Angeles (13) and the University of California, Berkeley (9) next.

Loyola High School in Los Angeles printed 81 graduates at Loyola Marymount and 67 at the University of Southern California over 2020-24. Santa Clara University (61), UC Berkeley (59), and UC Los Angeles (44) fill out the top of that same list.

California Academy of Mathematics & Science in Carson printed California State University, Long Beach (32) first for the Class of 2023. UC San Diego (24) and UC Irvine (14) came next on that list.

Out-of-state names appear too. Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks printed the University of Colorado Boulder (14) at the very top of its 2022-2025 list. Chaminade College Preparatory printed the University of Oregon (52) second among its Class of 2026 acceptances.

Do community colleges show up on these published lists?

Yes, and at two schools the community college is the single largest destination. California School of the Arts -- San Gabriel Valley in Duarte printed Pasadena City College (40) first for the Class of 2026, with Citrus College (15) second.

Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach printed El Camino Community College (56) as its largest Class of 2026 destination. The University of California, Santa Barbara (26) came second, then the University of California, Los Angeles (25) and the University of California, Berkeley (21). Santa Barbara City College (20) also made the top six.

California Academy of Mathematics & Science listed Long Beach City College (10) in its top six for the Class of 2023, alongside four UC and Cal State campuses.

A large community college count is a sign that many families in that community start close to home, often with a transfer in mind. It is a normal and common California route. A parent comparing two printed lists should read the names and the counts side by side.

How many Los Angeles County schools publish a college list at all?

Eighteen Los Angeles County schools publish a college list with counts we can read, out of 389 county schools that have UC admit data for Fall 2025. That is a thin slice.

The 18 are split by type. Most print a matriculation list, which counts graduates who actually enrolled. Three print an acceptances list: Pacifica Christian High School in Santa Monica, Chaminade College Preparatory in West Hills, and Saint Marys Academy in Inglewood. An acceptances list runs about three times an enrollment list, so the two kinds should never be added together.

You can see that gap in the numbers. Chaminade printed California State University - Northridge (55) and University of Oregon (52) at the top of its Class of 2026 acceptances. Those are offers, not students who packed a bag.

Absence from the table means the school publishes no counted list. It does not mean the school sends fewer students to college. It means the public record stops at the UC data. For the other 371 schools in the county, the UC Reach Score and the admit rate are the figures we hold.

How many Los Angeles County graduates go to college at all?

We cannot answer that from this data, because the college-going rate is not reported for any school on this board. Every row in the 40-school table shows a null in that column, which we read as not reported.

That is a real gap, and we name it rather than fill it. The California Department of Education publishes a College-Going Rate file, and we link to it in our sources. For these Los Angeles County rows, the rate did not come through.

What we do hold is the UC side and the printed lists. A school like Gretchen Whitney High School shows 222 top-six UC admits and a UC Reach Score of 126, which tells you a great deal about the top of its class. It tells you nothing about the share of seniors who enrolled anywhere.

For a family, the lesson is to treat the two questions separately. "Does this school send students to strong colleges" and "does this school get all of its students to college" are different questions. This page answers the first one well and the second one not at all.

Which Los Angeles County schools are strong for girls and for arts students?

Three all-girls schools rank in the county's top 40, led by Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena with a UC Reach Score of 104. Girls Academic Leadership Academy in Los Angeles scores 98 and Saint Marys Academy in Inglewood scores 86.

Westridge printed the University of California - Berkeley (14) at the top of its 2021-2023 list, then the University of Chicago (10) and the University of Southern California (9). Marlborough School, at a score of 64, and Mayfield Senior School, at 61, round out the girls schools on the board. Archer School for Girls printed Tulane University of Louisiana (6) first for the Class of '25.

On the arts side, Los Angeles County High School for the Arts scores 65 with 84 top-six UC admits and a UC admit rate of 34.3 percent. Renaissance Arts Academy in Los Angeles scores 82 with 28 admits. California School of the Arts -- San Gabriel Valley sits outside the top 40 but prints a full Class of 2026 list.

The point for families is that a focused school is not a narrow one. An arts magnet with a 34.3 percent UC admit rate is competing well on the academic board at the same time.

Should we move to a certain city in Los Angeles County for the high school?

The top 40 board spreads across many cities, so no single town holds the county's college results. La Canada appears three times, with Flintridge Preparatory School at 103, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy at 76, and LA Canada High School at 59.

Pasadena also appears three times: Westridge School for Girls at 104, Polytechnic School at 76, and Mayfield Senior School at 61. Two of those three are private, so an address alone does not reach them. Los Angeles itself appears most often, which reflects the size of the city more than any one neighborhood.

Some strong schools are magnets or charters that draw from a wide area rather than a street map. Gretchen Whitney High School in Cerritos, California Academy of Mathematics & Science in Carson, and Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy in Wilmington all admit by application.

So the move question often has a cheaper answer. Before a family looks at homes, we suggest checking which magnet, charter, and parochial options already accept students from your current address. A score of 126 at Whitney or 86 at Harbor Teacher Prep may be reachable without a new mortgage.

How should our family use these two tables together?

Read the UC board first for the odds and the printed list second for the destinations, since only 18 of 389 schools print a list. The two tables answer different halves of the same question.

Start with the UC Reach Score to size up the school against the county. Then read the top-six admit count to see how many students that represents. Then read the UC admit rate to see how often applications from that school succeed. Three numbers, three different facts.

If the school appears in the second table, read the list type before the names. A matriculation list from Viewpoint School shows where students went: SMU (9), NYU (7), UC Berkeley (6). An acceptances list from Pacifica Christian High School shows where students were admitted: UC Berkeley (7), USC (7), UCLA (6). Those are not the same measure.

Last, keep the printed lists as reports, not grades. We rank schools only on the UC board and on published counts, because those come from counted data. The college names a school prints describe one class in one year. They describe a community, and they do not predict what your child will do.

Related: Los Angeles County UC brief · All rankings · Family Decision Report