Santa Margarita Catholic High School
Rancho Santa Margarita · Orange County · Catholic religious-affiliated
Compare with peers
Other schools in Orange County, closest in size
Mater Dei High School → JSerra Catholic High School → St. Margaret's Episcopal School → Orange Lutheran High School → Crean Lutheran High School → Compare all similar →A parent's read
- Where graduates go: #3 feeder school to Southern Methodist University; top 10 for UCLA and Notre Dame. Santa Margarita Catholic High School's own list (Class of 2025), enrolled: Saddleback College (31), University of Utah (26), Texas Christian University (16), Cal Poly SLO (10), Chapman (10). Feeder standing: #3 Southern Methodist University, #4 UCLA, #5 Notre Dame, #9 Loyola Marymount University, #9 UC San Diego, #10 Boston University.
- The UC pipeline here is real. 156 admissions to the top six UC campuses for a class of 421 seniors puts this school in roughly the top 21% of California high schools.
- The UC surprise: most admits from the middle campuses — most enrollments at UCLA. The middle campuses said yes far more often — 120 of this class's 156 UC admits came from San Diego, Santa Barbara, Irvine, and Davis. But the campus grads chose most is UCLA: 11 of its 16 admits took the seat. Those offers are rare — and when kids from here win one, they keep it.
- Students who test here average 1266 on the SAT. That's far above the national average of about 1030 — as published in the school's own profile.
- 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.
Where graduates go — as published by the school
Santa Margarita Catholic High School publishes where its graduates enrolled (Class of 2025): 154 colleges with per-college counts — the largest counts enrolled at Saddleback College (31), University of Utah (26), Texas Christian University (16). See the full list ↓
Feeder standing #1 feeder to Texas Christian University, University of Utah, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott · #3 to Southern Methodist University, #4 to University of California-Los Angeles, #5 to University of Notre Dame, #9 to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo — from its own published counts, ranked per class year
At a glance
- 24 AP courses offered (school profile)
- 4 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. (2025)
- SAT avg 1266
- ACT avg 27
- APCollege-level courses with a national exam each May. A score of 3+ "passes" and can earn college credit; the pass rate tells you whether a school's AP program has substance behind the course list. exam pass rate 91%
Composed from the school's own published profile (2025), and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
Admissions at a glance
Is Santa Margarita Catholic High School a good school for college admissions?
Santa Margarita Catholic High School's UC Reach Score is 37 (Above average, top 25% in California; higher than 79% of California high schools), from 156 UC admits (counted at each UC) for 421 seniors in 2025, and it publishes a college list with per-college counts.
How hard is it to get into Santa Margarita Catholic High School?
Santa Margarita Catholic High School does not post an acceptance rate on its admissions pages; the HSPT is required and tuition is $23,600 for 2026-27.
From the school's own admissions pages and public filings. Dates verified Oct 1, 2026; exams verified September 2026. Full calendar: California private-school admissions tracker · entrance exams. More private high schools in Orange County · Entrance exams in Orange County
Their published matriculation list
Where the Class of 2025 enrolled
Santa Margarita Catholic High School publishes where its graduates enrolled. What follows is copied from that document — 154 colleges, ordered by the number of students enrolled.
The ten largest counts, enrolled · Class of 2025
Is my kid's college on this list?
All 154 colleges, as the document prints them
College · Students
and 124 more
These graduates went on to the colleges above.
Check your kid's odds at these colleges →We'll load the 10 colleges the class chose most often — add your name, email and your child's numbers and we'll see where your child lands at each.
Independently verified As published by Santa Margarita Catholic High School — 2025-2026 School Profile ↗. Found at: p.4, 'COLLEGE MATRICULATION LIST - CLASS OF 2025' (labeled: 'This is the complete matriculation list, with the number of students attending for the class of 2025.'.
What does Santa Margarita Catholic High School publish about its class profile?
These figures come from the school's own published profile (as of 2025); each links to that document.
- SAT: mean 1266 (as of 2025) Source: resources.finalsite.net ↗
- ACT: mean 27.0 (as of 2025) Source: resources.finalsite.net ↗
- AP courses offered: 24 (as of 2025) Source: resources.finalsite.net ↗
- AP exams scored 3 or higher: 91% (as of 2025) Source: resources.finalsite.net ↗
- National Merit Semifinalists: 4 (as of 2025) Source: resources.finalsite.net ↗
Keep this page current
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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 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.
How Santa Margarita Catholic High School compares for families
Above-average college outcomes statewide.
- ▸ StatewideUC Reach Score of 37 — 18 points above the California median of 19. Ahead of 79% of California high schools.
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsOther schools in the county, closest in size: Mater Dei High School, Jserra Catholic High School, St. Margaret's Episcopal School 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.
Scroll up to the UC Reach card for Santa Margarita Catholic High School's 2025 number, statewide percentile, and 5-year trend.
Enrollment trend & projection
If this trend holds (+2.1%/yr, Total enrollment)
At tuition of $ / student:
| Horizon | Projected Total enrollment | Change | Tuition impact / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 yr (2026) | ~1,861 | +38 | $0 |
| 3 yr (2028) | ~1,940 | +117 | $0 |
| 5 yr (2030) | ~2,023 | +200 | $0 |
Straight-line extrapolation of the recent annual rate — a what-if, not a forecast of intent. Default = a typical CA Catholic high school ($10k–18k). Edit the figure to match your school.
Diocesan context — Diocese of Orange
DioceseDiocese of Orange is the canonical governance body for Catholic schools in this region — board policy, tuition guidance, and shared services typically originate here. Visit the diocesan website →
Financial figures aren't shown because Catholic (arch)dioceses don't file IRS Form 990 — they're covered by the USCCB Group Ruling (GEN 0928), which exempts dioceses, parishes, and parochial schools from individual filing. School counts above are hand-compiled from each diocese's published schools-department information.
Santa Margarita Catholic High School sent 723 applications to the six most selective University of California campuses and 21.6% were admitted, producing a UC Reach Score of 37 (top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors, counting a student at each campus that admitted them) — 18 points above the California median of 19, higher than 79% of California high schools. The school produces 8.6 UCLA + UC Berkeley admits per 100 seniors.
19
53
37
Higher than 79% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)
Santa Margarita Catholic High School's UC Reach Score of 37 is in the top quartile statewide (median 19; top 25% bar 33) — but it's still below the top-10% bar of 53.
For context, the elite tier (top 1%) clears 95 — a gap of 58 pp from where this school sits.
Overall, Santa Margarita Catholic High School's UC Reach is higher than 79% of California high schools (1105 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 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 |
| 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 | 4.00 | 4.16 | +0.16 | 21.0% | Peers +0.23 · wider |
| UCLA | 3.95 | 4.22 | +0.27 | 14.3% | Peers +0.28 · matches |
| UC San Diego | 3.93 | 4.19 | +0.27 | 30.6% | Peers +0.29 · matches |
| UC Santa Barbara | 3.91 | 4.20 | +0.29 | 27.6% | Peers +0.30 · matches |
| UC Irvine | 3.90 | 4.14 | +0.23 | 39.6% | Peers +0.26 · matches |
| UC Davis | 3.92 | 4.14 | +0.23 | 39.6% | Peers +0.24 · matches |
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 Santa Margarita Catholic High School sits vs. all California schools ⓘ
Overall, this school admits its UC applicants 7.0 points above what their GPAs predict (28.1% actual vs. 21.1% expected), based on 2024 data.
UC Outcomes Trend — 2018–2025
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 — 2025
| Campus | Applicants | Admits | Enrollees | Admit Rate | UC Reach Score | Yield | Avg GPA (App) '24 | Avg GPA (Adm) '24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley → Elite | 98 | 20 | 8 | 20.4% | 5 | 40.0% | 4.00 | 4.16 |
| UCLA → Elite | 148 | 16 | 11 | 10.8% | 4 | 68.8% | 3.95 | 4.22 |
| UC San Diego → Selective | 138 | 26 | 5 | 18.8% | 6 | 19.2% | 3.93 | 4.19 |
| UC Santa Barbara → Selective | 143 | 29 | 3 | 20.3% | 7 | 10.3% | 3.91 | 4.20 |
| UC Irvine → Selective | 113 | 35 | 5 | 31.0% | 8 | 14.3% | 3.90 | 4.14 |
| UC Davis → | 83 | 30 | 4 | 36.1% | 7 | 13.3% | 3.92 | 4.14 |
What This Means
At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantSanta Margarita Catholic High School is a private high school in Rancho Santa Margarita, Orange County, California with 421 seniors in the Class of 2025.
Its UC Reach Score is 37 (Above average, top 25% in California): 156 UC admits (counted at each UC) from a senior class of 421, so a student admitted to several campuses counts at each. That is higher than 79% of California high schools.
In 2025 its students filed 723 UC applications and received 156 offers, a UC admit rate of 21.6% (counted at each campus); 36 enrolled.
More of its graduates enrolled at UCLA than at any other UC campus (11 in 2025); UC Berkeley and UCLA together admitted 36.
Of its graduates who enrolled at a UC, 94% earned a degree within six years (cohort entering 2019).
Enrollment was 1,823 students in 2025, up 11% since 2020.
Santa Margarita Catholic High School publishes a matriculation list (where its graduates enrolled) for the Class of 2025: 154 colleges, with per-college counts; the largest counts are Saddleback College (31), University of Utah (26), Texas Christian University (16), Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (10), Chapman University (10). Source: 2025-2026 School Profile.
Santa Margarita Catholic High School's feeder standing, from the schools' own published counts: #3 Southern Methodist University, #4 UCLA, #5 Notre Dame, #9 Loyola Marymount University, #9 UC San Diego, #10 Boston University.
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
What is Santa Margarita Catholic High School's UC Reach Score? Santa Margarita Catholic High School's UC Reach Score is 37 (Above average, top 25% in California): 156 UC admits (counted at each UC) from a senior class of 421, so a student admitted to several campuses counts at each. That is higher than 79% of California high schools.
How many students from Santa Margarita Catholic High School got into a UC? In 2025 its students filed 723 UC applications and received 156 offers, a UC admit rate of 21.6% (counted at each campus); 36 enrolled.
Which UC campus do Santa Margarita Catholic High School graduates attend most? More of Santa Margarita Catholic High School's graduates enrolled at UCLA than at any other UC campus (11 in 2025); UC Berkeley and UCLA together admitted 36.
Where do Santa Margarita Catholic High School graduates go to college? Santa Margarita Catholic High School publishes a matriculation list (where its graduates enrolled) for the Class of 2025: 154 colleges, with per-college counts; the largest counts are Saddleback College (31), University of Utah (26), Texas Christian University (16), Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (10), Chapman University (10). Source: 2025-2026 School Profile.
Which colleges is Santa Margarita Catholic High School a top feeder school to? Santa Margarita Catholic High School's feeder standing, from the schools' own published counts: #3 Southern Methodist University, #4 UCLA, #5 Notre Dame, #9 Loyola Marymount University, #9 UC San Diego, #10 Boston University.
How many students attend Santa Margarita Catholic High School? Enrollment was 1,823 students in 2025, up 11% since 2020.
What is the tuition at Santa Margarita Catholic High School? At Santa Margarita Catholic High School, tuition is $23,600 for 2026-27.
Does Santa Margarita Catholic High School require an entrance exam? At Santa Margarita Catholic High School, the HSPT is required.
Is Santa Margarita Catholic High School a good school for college admissions? Santa Margarita Catholic High School's UC Reach Score is 37 (Above average, top 25% in California; higher than 79% of California high schools), from 156 UC admits (counted at each UC) for 421 seniors in 2025, and it publishes a college list with per-college counts.
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 Santa Margarita Catholic High School?
When a parent asks an AI assistant about Santa Margarita Catholic High 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 Santa Margarita Catholic High School and where it comes from. The first report is free.
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