Crystal Springs Uplands Sch
Hillsborough · San Mateo County · Private independent
Compare with peers
Most similar nearby schools
Mercy High School → Notre Dame High School → Castilleja School → San Francisco Waldorf Hs → Drew School → Compare all similar →🧭 A parent's read
- The UC pipeline here is real. 51 admissions to the top six UC campuses for a class of 80 seniors puts this school in roughly the top 5% of California high schools.
- 12 National Merit Semifinalists in one class. That's roughly 1 in 7 seniors reaching the top ~1% of the PSAT nationally — a density few schools anywhere can match.
- A deeply UC-focused culture. Seniors here file about 3.6 UC applications each — among the most UC-oriented schools in California. The counseling office lives and breathes this system.
- Elite admits are rare — here and everywhere. Berkeley and UCLA admitted 15 of this class's 289 UC applications. The strong middle campuses — San Diego, Santa Barbara, Irvine, Davis — are where most real UC outcomes happen.
- One question for any counselor: who should still test? Plenty of strong students skip the SAT/ACT now — but merit scholarships at dozens of colleges still key off scores. Ask how the school decides who should still sit for one.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
📋 At a glance
- 📚 24 AP courses offered (school profile)
- 🏆 12 National Merit SemifinalistsRoughly the top 1% of PSAT scorers in each state — about 16,000 juniors nationally. A useful gauge of a school's academic top end. (2024)
- 📝 SAT avg 1460 (25-75: 1410–1520)
- 📝 ACT avg 33.5 (25-75: 32–35)
- 📚 AP exam pass rate 92% (avg score 4.4)
Composed from the school's own published profile (2024), and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
🎓 Where grads go — and what it costs & pays
UC admits by campus · Class of 2025
Getting in is step one. The cost above is the average family's net price — yours depends on your income — 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 net price →Sources: UC Office of the President (admits); IPEDS net price + College Scorecard 10-yr earnings (cost & payoff). Full campus-by-campus breakdown below.
How Crystal Springs Uplands Sch compares for families
One of California's strongest schools for college outcomes.
- ▸ NationallySAT mean 1460 (≈ top 3% of US test-takers) · ACT mean 33.5 (≈ top 2%) · 92% AP pass rate (US average: ~60%) · 12 National Merit Semifinalists last year (NMSF is the top 1% of US PSAT scorers) · Top 5% of the 218 curated private schools in our database on ACT mean.
- ▸ StatewideUC Reach Score of 64 — 46 points above the California median of 18. Ahead of 95% of California high schools.
- ▸ Locally🎓 Top 5 in San Mateo County on UC Reach — plus 1 more top-rank.
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsBeats the peer median (UC Reach Score 64 vs a 45 median) across the 5 most similar nearby schools.
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.
Scroll up to the UC Reach card for Crystal Springs Uplands Sch's 2025 number, statewide percentile, and 5-year trend.
Enrollment trend & projection
If this trend holds (-0.5%/yr, Total enrollment)
At tuition of $ / student:
| Horizon | Projected Total enrollment | Change | Tuition impact / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 yr (2026) | ~345 | -2 | $0 |
| 3 yr (2028) | ~342 | -5 | $0 |
| 5 yr (2030) | ~339 | -8 | $0 |
Straight-line extrapolation of the recent annual rate — a what-if, not a forecast of intent. Edit the figure to match your school.
How does Crystal Springs Uplands Sch really compare on getting kids to college?
We've ranked it #5 of 11 most similar nearby schools on UC Reach. Unlock the full snapshot to see the head-to-head — who's ahead, by how much, and where it's heading.
Your similar-school group includes
Mercy High School · Notre Dame High School · Castilleja School · San Francisco Waldorf Hs · Drew School · Basis Independent Fremont Upper Sch · +4 more
Crystal Springs Uplands Sch sent 289 applications to the six most selective University of California campuses and 17.6% were admitted, producing a UC Reach Score of 64 — 46 points above the California median of 18, higher than 95% of California high schools. The school produces 18.8 UCLA + UC Berkeley admits per 100 seniors.
+19 pts above peer median (45) · Ranked #5 of 11 similar schools
18
45
51
64
Higher than 95% of California high schools (980 ranked, ≥50 seniors)
Crystal Springs Uplands Sch's UC Reach Score of 64 clears the statewide top-10% cutoff (51) — meaning roughly 63 top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors, well above what most California schools achieve.
Against similar schools, Crystal Springs Uplands Sch stands out clearly — the peer-group median is 45.
For context, the elite tier (top 1%) clears 97 — a gap of 34 pp from where this school sits.
Overall, Crystal Springs Uplands Sch's UC Reach is higher than 95% of California high schools (980 ranked).
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.
GPA figures reflect 2024 — UC has not yet released applicant/admit GPA for 2025.
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.
| Campus | 4.00+ GPA | 3.70–3.99 GPA | 3.30–3.69 GPA | < 3.30 GPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | Real shot | Long odds | Filtered out | Filtered out |
| UCLA | Real shot | Long odds | Filtered out | Filtered out |
| UC Santa Barbara | Strong shot | Moderate | Long odds | Filtered out |
| UC Irvine | Strong shot | Real shot | Long odds | Filtered out |
| UC Davis | Strong shot | Real shot | Moderate | Filtered out |
The numbers behind it
| Campus | Applicant GPA | Admit GPA | Lift ⓘ | Admit rate | vs peer schools @ same GPA ⓘ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | 4.09 | 4.27 | +0.18 | 20.0% | Peers +0.18 · matches |
| UCLA | 4.11 | 4.31 | +0.20 | 12.3% | Peers +0.20 · matches |
| UC Santa Barbara | 4.06 | 4.30 | +0.24 | 25.9% | Peers +0.22 · matches |
| UC Irvine | 4.08 | 4.16 | +0.08 | 11.9% | Peers +0.16 · wider |
| UC Davis | 4.11 | 4.22 | +0.11 | 20.0% | Peers +0.16 · 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% |
Where Crystal Springs Uplands Sch sits vs. all California schools ⓘ
Overall, this school admits its UC applicants 5.2 points below what their GPAs predict (18.2% actual vs. 23.4% expected), based on 2024 data.
UC Outcomes Trend — 2024–2025
Class size from CDE grade 12 enrollment. Campus-level data — applicant/admit totals may count a student at multiple campuses more than once.
Campus Breakdown — 2025
| Campus | Applicants | Admits | Enrollees | Admit Rate | UC Reach Score | Yield | Avg GPA (App) '24 | Avg GPA (Adm) '24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley → Elite | 52 | 9 | —† | 17.3% | 11 | — | 4.09 | 4.27 |
| UCLA → Elite | 55 | 6 | —† | 10.9% | 8 | — | 4.11 | 4.31 |
| UC San Diego → Selective | 51 | 4 | —† | 7.8% | 5 | — | 4.08 | —† |
| UC Santa Barbara → Selective | 45 | 14 | —† | 31.1% | 18 | — | 4.06 | 4.30 |
| UC Irvine → Selective | 43 | 6 | —† | 14.0% | 8 | — | 4.08 | 4.16 |
| UC Davis → | 43 | 12 | —† | 27.9% | 15 | — | 4.11 | 4.22 |