Santiago High School: UC admissions

Garden Grove · Orange CountyPublic high school

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

In fall 2025, 113 students from Santiago High School applied to the University of California and 94 (83%) were admitted to at least one campus. The most popular choice was UC Irvine with 100 applicants. The hardest campus to get into was UC Los Angeles (9 of 72 admitted, 13%), and the easiest was UC Merced (100%). Admitted students had an average UC GPA (weighted, capped) of 3.90.

What stands out

Its rate of admission to at least one UC campus (83%) was 7 points above the Orange County average (76%). Between 2021 and 2025, UC Berkeley got harder for Santiago High School students (32% → 20% admitted), while UC Riverside got easier (63% → 86%). Compared with all applicants, its students did better at UC Berkeley, UC Los Angeles and UC San Diego and worse at UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz.

Fall 2025 results by campus

CampusAppliedAdmittedAdmit rateAll applicants’ rateEnrolledAvg GPA appliedAvg GPA admitted
Any UC campus1139483%—363.823.90
UC Berkeley45920%11%64.044.25
UC Davis28932%44%—3.664.15
UC Irvine1002929%29%123.894.18
UC Los Angeles72913%9%63.914.25
UC Merced3737100%94%—3.833.83
UC Riverside746486%87%63.783.86
UC San Diego632235%28%53.864.24
UC Santa Barbara431637%38%—3.774.12
UC Santa Cruz201260%72%—3.633.86

“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 campus73% (72/99)74% (91/123)79% (96/122)78% (91/117)83% (94/113)
UC Berkeley32% (10/31)24% (11/45)28% (12/43)11% (4/37)20% (9/45)
UC Davis50% (5/10)29% (6/21)39% (12/31)58% (11/19)32% (9/28)
UC Irvine16% (14/89)36% (41/115)35% (38/110)38% (42/110)29% (29/100)
UC Los Angeles11% (7/61)6% (5/86)8% (6/80)8% (6/77)13% (9/72)
UC Merced100% (19/19)93% (26/28)86% (25/29)100% (9/9)100% (37/37)
UC Riverside63% (35/56)71% (46/65)63% (38/60)75% (54/72)86% (64/74)
UC San Diego20% (8/40)61% (39/64)61% (41/67)37% (28/75)35% (22/63)
UC Santa Barbara43% (15/35)42% (13/31)29% (13/45)45% (13/29)37% (16/43)
UC Santa Cruz44% (11/25)52% (11/21)67% (12/18)58% (11/19)60% (12/20)

Admit rate, with admitted / applied in parentheses.

Where would your GPA land?

Enter your GPA to compare yourself with students from Santiago 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.