El Cerrito High School: UC admissions

El Cerrito · Contra Costa CountyPublic high school

This page shows how students from El Cerrito High School did when they applied to the University of California. It is not the admission rate for getting into El Cerrito High School itself.

In fall 2025, 165 students from El Cerrito High School applied to the University of California and 139 (84%) were admitted to at least one campus. The most popular choice was UC Davis with 131 applicants. The hardest campus to get into was UC Irvine (5 of 84 admitted, 6%), and the easiest was UC Merced (97%). Admitted students had an average UC GPA (weighted, capped) of 3.97.

What stands out

Its rate of admission to at least one UC campus (84%) was 7 points above the Contra Costa County average (77%). Between 2021 and 2025, UC Irvine got harder for El Cerrito High School students (13% → 6% admitted), while UC Riverside got easier (68% → 92%). Compared with all applicants, its students did better at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz and worse at UC Davis, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara.

Fall 2025 results by campus

CampusAppliedAdmittedAdmit rateAll applicants’ rateEnrolledAvg GPA appliedAvg GPA admitted
Any UC campus16513984%—743.903.97
UC Berkeley1192723%11%183.944.21
UC Davis1314635%44%103.914.19
UC Irvine8456%29%—3.934.25
UC Los Angeles106109%9%63.984.22
UC Merced585697%94%—3.843.87
UC Riverside494592%87%53.793.87
UC San Diego1233831%28%133.954.24
UC Santa Barbara1112926%38%53.974.26
UC Santa Cruz1199580%72%153.914.07

“All applicants’ rate” is the campus admit rate across all freshman applicants that year, including out-of-state and international.

Five-year trend

Campus20212022202320242025
Any UC campus77% (133/172)73% (113/154)78% (126/161)77% (119/154)84% (139/165)
UC Berkeley29% (35/121)21% (24/112)22% (26/120)20% (24/120)23% (27/119)
UC Davis40% (51/126)24% (29/120)37% (41/112)40% (46/114)35% (46/131)
UC Irvine13% (9/69)13% (11/85)20% (16/81)27% (22/82)6% (5/84)
UC Los Angeles10% (10/102)8% (8/106)7% (8/108)10% (10/104)9% (10/106)
UC Merced92% (34/37)97% (32/33)92% (24/26)100% (17/17)97% (56/58)
UC Riverside68% (23/34)77% (27/35)84% (26/31)83% (20/24)92% (45/49)
UC San Diego25% (21/83)52% (53/101)54% (58/107)47% (50/107)31% (38/123)
UC Santa Barbara31% (34/110)23% (23/102)25% (28/113)25% (25/100)26% (29/111)
UC Santa Cruz72% (88/122)48% (58/120)67% (84/125)73% (88/121)80% (95/119)

Admit rate, with admitted / applied in parentheses.

Where would your GPA land?

Enter your GPA to compare yourself with students from El Cerrito High School who were admitted to each campus.

Other Contra Costa County high schools

All Contra Costa County schools →

Source: University of California Office of the President, UC Information Center, Admissions by source school. Freshman counts are fall terms; transfer counts are the academic year starting that fall. Average GPAs are UC’s weighted, capped high school GPA (transfer GPA for colleges). “—” means UC suppressed a small count. This site is independent and not affiliated with the University of California. Admit rates describe past applicants, not any individual student’s chances.