La Quinta High School: UC admissions

Westminster · Orange CountyPublic high school

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

In fall 2025, 254 students from La Quinta High School applied to the University of California and 205 (81%) were admitted to at least one campus. The most popular choice was UC Irvine with 235 applicants. The hardest campus to get into was UC Los Angeles (13 of 175 admitted, 7%), and the easiest was UC Merced (100%). Admitted students had an average UC GPA (weighted, capped) of 3.96.

What stands out

Its rate of admission to at least one UC campus (81%) was 4 points above the Orange County average (76%). The biggest change since 2021 was at UC Santa Cruz, where the admit rate for La Quinta High School students rose from 43% to 76%. Compared with all applicants, its students did better at UC San Diego 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 campus25420581%—853.913.96
UC Berkeley1081413%11%64.064.25
UC Davis612439%44%—3.884.17
UC Irvine2354921%29%293.914.21
UC Los Angeles175137%9%73.984.31
UC Merced8787100%94%—3.963.96
UC Riverside16715593%87%123.883.92
UC San Diego1938745%28%233.934.17
UC Santa Barbara1013131%38%43.914.20
UC Santa Cruz342676%72%33.803.95

“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 campus62% (162/263)70% (147/209)64% (168/264)67% (176/262)81% (205/254)
UC Berkeley8% (6/73)15% (12/79)5% (5/110)6% (7/111)13% (14/108)
UC Davis37% (22/60)42% (23/55)43% (25/58)43% (25/58)39% (24/61)
UC Irvine13% (31/244)32% (64/200)26% (63/247)28% (70/247)21% (49/235)
UC Los Angeles3% (6/175)7% (10/150)3% (6/184)7% (13/180)7% (13/175)
UC Merced95% (21/22)94% (15/16)97% (34/35)100% (14/14)100% (87/87)
UC Riverside72% (110/153)80% (106/132)72% (111/155)76% (96/126)93% (155/167)
UC San Diego21% (43/202)13% (23/173)11% (21/191)45% (97/215)45% (87/193)
UC Santa Barbara26% (24/91)31% (28/91)23% (28/122)25% (31/123)31% (31/101)
UC Santa Cruz43% (12/28)44% (8/18)76% (26/34)75% (27/36)76% (26/34)

Admit rate, with admitted / applied in parentheses.

Where would your GPA land?

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

Other Orange County high schools

All Orange 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.