Excelsior School

Pasadena · Los Angeles County · Private independent

Private Los Angeles County
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A parent's read

  • Where graduates go, as the school itself publishes it. Excelsior School publishes where its graduates go (not stated): 16 colleges, including Brown University, Columbia University, University of Southern California, New York University.
  • Worth asking admissions: the school profile. Reach doesn't yet show this school's SAT/ACT or AP results. Every private school produces a counselor's "school profile" for colleges, and most post it online — ask admissions for it. How a school answers says as much as the numbers.

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

Where graduates go — as published by the school

Excelsior School publishes the colleges its graduates attend (not stated): 16 colleges. See the full list ↓

Private high schools near Excelsior School

Five private high schools within 4 miles of Excelsior School, with tuition and the exam each requires where the school publishes them.

School City Miles Grades Tuition Entrance exam UC Reach Score
Polytechnic School Pasadena 2.7 K–12 $51,700 School's own assessment 52
La Salle High School Pasadena 2.9 9–12 $33,912 HSPT, ISEE or SSAT 42
Maranatha High School Pasadena 3.0 9–12 $29,200 ISEE — required only for merit-scholarship… 46
Sequoyah School Pasadena 3.2 K–12 No entrance exam posted 25
Mayfield Senior School Pasadena 3.8 9–12 $39,300 No entrance exam posted 68

Distances are straight-line miles between school locations. Tuition and exams are from each school's own admissions pages; see the entrance-exam guide.

Their published college list

Colleges the school lists for its graduates

Excelsior School publishes a list of colleges for its graduates. What follows is copied from that document — 16 colleges, in the document's own order.

The document does not state a class year for this list.

Ivy+ and most selective · 2

Brown University · Columbia University

University of California · 5

University of California Berkeley · University of California Irvine · University of California Los Angeles · University of California Riverside · University of California Santa Barbara

Cal State · 1

Cal Poly Pomona

Other California · 2

University of Southern California · Pepperdine University

Out of state · 6

University of Colorado · Pennsylvania State University · New York University · Michigan State University · The Ohio State University · University of Rochester

Is my kid's college on this list?

— Stanford University ✓ New York University ✓ University of Southern California ✓ University of California, Los Angeles ✓ University of California, Berkeley — University of Michigan — Cornell University — Boston University — Northeastern University — University of Texas at Austin — Georgetown University — Duke University

The school down the road: Southwestern Academy

CollegeExcelsior SchoolSouthwestern Academy
Brown University✓ named—
Columbia University✓ named—
New York University✓ named✓ named
University of California Berkeley✓ named✓ named
University of California Los Angeles✓ named—
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign—✓ named
University of Michigan—✓ named
University of Southern California✓ named—
University of Virginia—✓ named
University of Washington—✓ named

Both schools print names, not counts, so this shows which selective colleges each list names.

As the document prints them

Brown University Columbia University University of California Berkeley University of California Irvine University of California Los Angeles University of California Riverside University of California Santa Barbara University of Southern California University of Colorado Cal Poly Pomona Pennsylvania State University New York University Michigan State University The Ohio State University University of Rochester Pepperdine University

These are the colleges the school published for its graduates.

Check your kid's odds at these colleges →

We'll load 10 from the list above — add your name, email and your child's numbers and we'll see where your child lands at each.

Independently verified As published by Excelsior School — Excelsior School - Academics, University Acceptances ↗. Found at: Academics page, 'UNIVERSITY ACCEPTANCES' section.

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Where grads go — and what it costs & pays

UC admits by campus · Class of 2024

UCI
3 admitted
Net $14,251/yr avg
Grads earn $80,735 @10yr
UCD
4 admitted
Net $14,741/yr avg
Grads earn $80,838 @10yr

Getting in is step one. The cost above is the average aid-receiving family's net price — yours depends on whether you qualify for aid — and your child's odds depend on their GPA + scores. See your family's real numbers at these campuses:

Get my child's odds + our real costs →

Sources: UC Office of the President (admits); IPEDS net price + College Scorecard 10-yr earnings (cost & payoff). Full campus-by-campus breakdown below.

You've seen Excelsior School. What are your child's real college odds? Check any college in 10 seconds — no email needed — then get the free Family Decision Report: Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely + the real cost range for every college on their list. Check odds →

How Excelsior School compares for families

What families should know about Excelsior School.

  • ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Southwestern Academy, Tree Academy, Fusion Academy - Pasadena and 2 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.

No SBAC data for private schools — and that's not the metric you want anyway

California's Smarter Balanced (CAASPP) assessment is administered by the state, by statute, to public & charter schools only. Private schools don't sit for it. That's why the SBAC card is missing on this profile — not a data gap on our side, a deliberate scope of the state's testing program.

For private schools, UC Reach is the stronger academic signal anyway. SBAC measures grade-11 inputs (proficiency on a state standard); UC Reach measures outputs (who actually got into the most selective UCs). For private-school families weighing tuition against college outcomes, the outputs are the relevant signal.

This school doesn't have UC outcomes data on file yet — we surface UCOP-published admits by sending HS, and not every private school appears in those records. The enrollment trend, stability, and other cards on this page are still primary-sourced for this school.

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment (9–12)
31 (2020) → 72 (2025)
+132.3%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
10 (2020) → 21 (2025)
+110.0%

If this trend holds (+11.5%/yr, Total enrollment)

At tuition of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Tuition impact / yr
1 yr (2026) ~80 +8 $0
3 yr (2028) ~100 +28 $0
5 yr (2030) ~124 +52 $0

Straight-line extrapolation of the recent annual rate — a what-if, not a forecast of intent. Default = typical CA independent day schools ($25k–55k). Edit the figure to match your school.

How does Excelsior School really compare on getting kids to college?

Unlock a head-to-head snapshot of Excelsior School against its 10 most similar nearby schools — matched on size, location, type, and religious orientation. See exactly where it stands on the college pipeline.

The full head-to-head table — every peer school's UC Reach, side by side.
Enrollment trend + 3-year projection — is this school growing or quietly shrinking?
The plain-English read on what it all means for your family.

Your similar-school group includes

Southwestern Academy · Tree Academy · Fusion Academy - Pasadena · AGBU Vatche and Tamar Manoukian High School · Fusion Academy - Los Angeles · Holy Family High School · +4 more

Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement. We'll email you the snapshot and a few alerts a year. Unsubscribe anytime.

UC Reach Score ⓘ methodology
UC Application Reach Score ⓘ
N/A
20 applications
UC Admit Rate ⓘ
35.0%
7 / 20 applications
In context: CA median 26.6% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 39.7% · higher than 82% of CA HS.
UC Yield Rate ⓘ
N/A
— enrolled of 7 admitted
Yield vs. Enrollment Reach: Yield answers "of UC admits, what % chose UC?" — denominator is just the admits. A small admitted cohort can post a low yield even when the school sends a healthy share of its class to UC.
UC Enrollment Reach Score ⓘ
N/A
— enrollees / — seniors
Enrollment Reach vs. Yield: Reach answers "of the whole senior class, what share ended up at UC?" — denominator is everyone. High Yield with low Enrollment Reach is common at elite privates: most admits matriculate, but the school sends most of its class to non-UC selective colleges.
Selective UC Reach (UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UCI — incl. the Elite two) ⓘ
N/A
Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA) ⓘ
N/A
Senior Class Size ⓘ
N/A
Run CDE download to enable the Reach Score
Total School Enrollment ⓘ
21
All grades · Private School Affidavit

Private-school figures come from the California Private School Affidavit. Per CDE, inclusion in private-school data is not an evaluation, approval, or endorsement of a school.

Avg. Applicant GPA · top-6 UCs ⓘ
3.91

UC funnel — which kids are getting in at what GPA

Combining the school's applicant pool GPA, admit pool GPA, actual admit rate, and statewide CA admit rates by individual GPA band, we can read which GPA tiers tend to get in — and which don't.

Who's actually getting into UC from Excelsior School
Campus 4.00+ GPA 3.70–3.99 GPA 3.30–3.69 GPA < 3.30 GPA
UC Irvine Strong shot Real shot Long odds Filtered out
Strong shot = ≥30% statewide admit rate at this band · Real shot = 10–29% · Moderate = 5–9% · Long odds = 1–4% · Filtered out = under 1%. Tiers map this school's likely outcomes by GPA tier using statewide CA admit rates from UCOP 2024.

The numbers behind it

Campus Applicant GPA Admit GPA Lift ⓘ Admit rate vs peer schools @ same GPA ⓘ
UC Irvine (2018) 3.65 3.70 +0.05 66.7% Peers +0.44 · wider
Statewide CA admit rates by individual GPA band, 2024 (for reference)
GPA band UCB UCLA UCSD UCSB UCI UCD
4.00+ 17.1% 14.4% 43.5% 57.3% 46.0% 64.1%
3.70–3.99 2.8% 1.5% 11.2% 9.2% 16.5% 27.5%
3.30–3.69 0.8% 0.9% 1.4% 2.3% 3.4% 9.1%
3.00–3.29 0.5% 0.4% 0.1% 0.5% 0.4% 2.1%
< 3.00 0.6% 0.2% 0.2% 0.5% 0.3% 0.6%
How we infer the tier labels: Each tier comes from the statewide CA admit rate at that GPA band at that UC. The "vs peers" column compares this school's lift (admit GPA − applicant GPA) to the average lift at ~100–300 other CA schools with similar applicant pool GPA. What this isn't: a guarantee. UC comprehensive review weighs essays, course rigor, demographics, and context-of-opportunity beyond GPA. A 3.9 with strong context can land an admit; a 4.0 with weak essays can be denied. Use as a baseline expectation, not a verdict. Per-campus year is shown when it differs from the headline year (UCOP doesn't always publish admit-GPA for every campus every year).

UC Outcomes Trend — 2018–2024

UC Admit Rate %
UC Reach Score (where available)
UC Admits (count, right axis)

Class size from CDE grade 12 enrollment. Campus-level data: applicant and admit totals count a student once at EACH campus. A senior admitted to UCLA and UC San Diego adds 2 to the admit total, so the total can exceed the senior class — that is the metric working as defined, not an error. The admit RATE is unaffected: both its numerator and denominator are campus-level.

Campus Breakdown — 2024

Campus Applicants Admits Enrollees Admit Rate UC Reach Score Yield Avg GPA (App) Avg GPA (Adm)
UC Berkeley → Elite — — — — — — — —
UCLA → Elite — — — — — — — —
UC San Diego → Selective 5 —† —† —† —† — 3.91 —†
UC Santa Barbara → Selective 5 —† —† —† —† — 3.91 —†
UC Irvine → Selective 5 3 —† 60.0% — — 3.91 —†
UC Davis → 5 4 —† 80.0% — — 3.91 —†
† = UCOP-suppressed (count below 3 students, hidden for privacy — actual value is 0, 1, or 2, not necessarily zero). Campus-level totals may count one student admitted to multiple UC campuses more than once; Admit Volume metrics are not the same as UC Reach, which is measured against the whole senior class. See methodology →

What This Means

Note: the UC Reach Score sums campus-level admits across the top-six UC campuses, so a student admitted to both UCLA and UCSD is counted at each. It reflects competitive admit volume relative to class size — admit-events, not distinct students — which is why a Score can exceed 100.
Senior class size is estimated from CDE grade 12 enrollment data. Reach percentages should be interpreted as approximate.
Compare with other schools → See Los Angeles County rankings →

At a glance

JSON · Using this page with an AI assistant

Excelsior School is a private high school in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California.

In 2024 its students filed 20 UC applications and received 7 offers, a UC admit rate of 35.0% (counted at each campus).

Enrollment was 72 students in 2025, up 132% since 2020.

Excelsior School publishes a list of colleges its graduates attend for the not stated: 16 colleges. Source: Excelsior School - Academics, University Acceptances.

Sources: University of California Office of the President (admissions), California Department of Education (enrollment, A-G, college-going), and the school's own published documents where named.

Questions families ask

How many students from Excelsior School got into a UC? In 2024 its students filed 20 UC applications and received 7 offers, a UC admit rate of 35.0% (counted at each campus).

Where do Excelsior School graduates go to college? Excelsior School publishes a list of colleges its graduates attend for the not stated: 16 colleges. Source: Excelsior School - Academics, University Acceptances.

How many students attend Excelsior School? Enrollment was 72 students in 2025, up 132% since 2020.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

What does AI tell parents about Excelsior School?

When a parent asks an AI assistant about Excelsior School, the answer is built from a handful of sources, and Reach is often one of them. We will send the admissions office a short report on what AI says about Excelsior School and where it comes from. The first report is free.

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