Idyllwild Arts Academy
Idyllwild · Riverside County · Private independent
Compare with peers
Most similar nearby schools
Palm Valley School → Army and Navy Academy → Mesa Grande Academy → Cornerstone Christian School → Fairmont San Juan Capistrano → Compare all similar →🧭 A parent's read
- Students who test here average 1310 on the SAT. That's far above the national average of about 1030 — as published in the school's own profile.
- And it's a rising stock. UC admissions per senior have climbed three years running — the trend line, not just the snapshot, is moving the right way.
- Most grads aim beyond the UC system. Seniors file only ~0.8 UC applications each — families here mostly target CSU, private, or out-of-state colleges, so judge this school on more than its UC numbers.
- 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
- 📚 14 AP courses offered (school profile)
- 🏆 3 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 1310 (25-75: 1240–1380)
- 📝 ACT avg 29 (25-75: 27–31)
- 📚 AP exam pass rate 83% (avg score 4.0)
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 Idyllwild Arts Academy compares for families
Mid-pack college outcomes within California.
- ▸ StatewideUC Reach Score of 22 — right around the California median of 18.
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsRight at the peer median (UC Reach Score 20) across the 5 most similar nearby schools.
For Parents
Get alerts when Idyllwild Arts Academy's numbers change
New admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores — a few alerts a year, no spam. Your email also saves your list across devices.
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 Idyllwild Arts Academy's 2025 number, statewide percentile, and 5-year trend.
Enrollment trend & projection
If this trend holds (-2.9%/yr, Total enrollment)
At tuition of $ / student:
| Horizon | Projected Total enrollment | Change | Tuition impact / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 yr (2026) | ~265 | -8 | $0 |
| 3 yr (2028) | ~250 | -23 | $0 |
| 5 yr (2030) | ~235 | -38 | $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 Idyllwild Arts Academy really compare on getting kids to college?
We've ranked it #3 of 5 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
Palm Valley School · Army and Navy Academy · Mesa Grande Academy · Cornerstone Christian School · Fairmont San Juan Capistrano · The Webb Schools · +4 more
Idyllwild Arts Academy sent 71 applications to the six most selective University of California campuses and 28.2% were admitted, producing a UC Reach Score of 22 — 4 points above the California median of 18, higher than 61% of California high schools. The school produces 5.6 UCLA + UC Berkeley admits per 100 seniors.
+2 pts above peer median (20) · Ranked #3 of 5 similar schools
18
51
22
Higher than 61% of California high schools (980 ranked, ≥50 seniors)
Idyllwild Arts Academy's UC Reach Score of 22 is above the California median (18). The top 10% of CA schools achieve 51 or higher.
For context, the elite tier (top 1%) clears 97 — a gap of 75 pp from where this school sits.
Overall, Idyllwild Arts Academy's UC Reach is higher than 61% 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 San Diego | Strong shot | Real shot | Long odds | Filtered out |
| UC Santa Barbara | Strong shot | Moderate | Long odds | Filtered out |
| UC Irvine | Strong shot | Real shot | Long odds | Filtered out |
The numbers behind it
| Campus | Applicant GPA | Admit GPA | Lift ⓘ | Admit rate | vs peer schools @ same GPA ⓘ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC San Diego (2022) | 3.90 | 4.17 | +0.27 | 33.3% | Peers +0.30 · matches |
| UC Santa Barbara (2023) | 3.83 | 4.15 | +0.32 | 38.5% | Peers +0.33 · matches |
| UC Irvine (2021) | 3.80 | 3.91 | +0.11 | 46.7% | Peers +0.35 · 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 Idyllwild Arts Academy sits vs. all California schools ⓘ
Overall, this school admits its UC applicants in line with what their GPAs predict (24.4% actual vs. 20.0% expected), based on 2024 data.
UC Outcomes Trend — 2018–2025
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 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 41.7% | 6 | 60.0% | 4.03 | —† |
| UCLA → Elite | 19 | —† | —† | —† | —† | — | 3.88 | —† |
| UC San Diego → Selective | 13 | 5 | —† | 38.5% | 6 | — | 3.81 | —† |
| UC Santa Barbara → Selective | 12 | 3 | —† | 25.0% | 3 | — | 3.92 | —† |
| UC Irvine → Selective | 8 | 3 | —† | 37.5% | 3 | — | 3.82 | —† |
| UC Davis → | 7 | 4 | —† | 57.1% | 4 | — | — | —† |