Palma High School: UC admissions

Salinas · Monterey CountyPrivate high school

This page shows how students from Palma High School did when they applied to the University of California. It is not the admission rate for getting into Palma High School itself; for that, contact the school’s admissions office.

In fall 2025, 33 students from Palma High School applied to the University of California and 17 (52%) were admitted to at least one campus. The most popular choice was UC Santa Barbara with 26 applicants. The hardest campus to get into was UC San Diego (3 of 18 admitted, 17%), and the easiest was UC Merced (100%). Admitted students had an average UC GPA (weighted, capped) of 4.04.

What stands out

Its rate of admission to at least one UC campus (52%) was 26 points below the Monterey County average (77%). Between 2021 and 2025, UC Davis got harder for Palma High School students (48% → 24% admitted), while UC Santa Barbara got easier (19% → 27%). Its applicants were admitted at lower rates than the overall applicant pool at UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara.

Fall 2025 results by campus

CampusAppliedAdmittedAdmit rateAll applicants’ rateEnrolledAvg GPA appliedAvg GPA admitted
Any UC campus331752%—73.934.04
UC Berkeley18——11%—3.95—
UC Davis21524%44%—3.934.30
UC Irvine19526%29%—3.924.21
UC Los Angeles22——9%—3.96—
UC Merced66100%94%—3.953.95
UC Riverside9889%87%—3.893.98
UC San Diego18317%28%—3.94—
UC Santa Barbara26727%38%33.954.28
UC Santa Cruz6583%72%—3.773.88

“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 campus66% (27/41)44% (15/34)52% (16/31)38% (10/26)52% (17/33)
UC Berkeley— (—/18)— (—/18)17% (3/18)19% (3/16)— (—/18)
UC Davis48% (15/31)28% (5/18)45% (9/20)33% (7/21)24% (5/21)
UC Irvine— (—/14)— (—/13)— (—/14)— (—/12)26% (5/19)
UC Los Angeles— (—/24)12% (3/25)— (—/21)— (—/20)— (—/22)
UC Merced100% (5/5)100% (6/6)100% (6/6)—100% (6/6)
UC Riverside—60% (3/5)——89% (8/9)
UC San Diego— (—/15)— (—/13)— (—/20)— (—/16)17% (3/18)
UC Santa Barbara19% (5/26)20% (3/15)18% (3/17)16% (3/19)27% (7/26)
UC Santa Cruz64% (9/14)— (—/10)50% (5/10)57% (4/7)83% (5/6)

Admit rate, with admitted / applied in parentheses.

Where would your GPA land?

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

Other Monterey County high schools

All Monterey 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.