Santa Ana High School: UC admissions

Santa Ana · Orange CountyPublic high school

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

In fall 2025, 128 students from Santa Ana High School applied to the University of California and 88 (69%) were admitted to at least one campus. The most popular choice was UC Irvine with 105 applicants. The hardest campus to get into was UC Los Angeles (7 of 84 admitted, 8%), and the easiest was UC Merced (96%). Admitted students had an average UC GPA (weighted, capped) of 3.76.

What stands out

Its rate of admission to at least one UC campus (69%) was 8 points below the Orange County average (76%). Between 2021 and 2025, UC Davis got harder for Santa Ana High School students (42% → 17% admitted), while UC Riverside got easier (42% → 76%). Compared with all applicants, its students did better at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Barbara and worse at UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC San Diego and UC Santa Cruz.

Fall 2025 results by campus

CampusAppliedAdmittedAdmit rateAll applicants’ rateEnrolledAvg GPA appliedAvg GPA admitted
Any UC campus1288869%—283.523.76
UC Berkeley471226%11%63.624.21
UC Davis52917%44%—3.434.04
UC Irvine1051817%29%33.544.09
UC Los Angeles8478%9%43.604.28
UC Merced454396%94%—3.623.68
UC Riverside826276%87%63.493.74
UC San Diego621423%28%—3.504.14
UC Santa Barbara472349%38%73.534.05
UC Santa Cruz291552%72%—3.373.89

“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 campus56% (84/151)60% (79/132)65% (98/151)65% (100/153)69% (88/128)
UC Berkeley15% (6/41)13% (6/47)24% (15/62)9% (5/53)26% (12/47)
UC Davis42% (18/43)19% (7/36)43% (18/42)43% (20/46)17% (9/52)
UC Irvine11% (14/130)21% (22/107)19% (23/123)20% (26/133)17% (18/105)
UC Los Angeles9% (8/93)6% (6/93)9% (10/106)9% (9/104)8% (7/84)
UC Merced71% (22/31)76% (19/25)81% (25/31)77% (23/30)96% (43/45)
UC Riverside42% (31/73)62% (38/61)57% (33/58)63% (50/79)76% (62/82)
UC San Diego36% (21/58)47% (23/49)39% (31/79)39% (29/74)23% (14/62)
UC Santa Barbara38% (17/45)38% (20/52)38% (19/50)51% (22/43)49% (23/47)
UC Santa Cruz46% (19/41)34% (12/35)55% (21/38)39% (16/41)52% (15/29)

Admit rate, with admitted / applied in parentheses.

Where would your GPA land?

Enter your GPA to compare yourself with students from Santa Ana 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.