Valley High School: UC admissions

Santa Ana · Orange CountyPublic high school

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

In fall 2025, 76 students from Valley High School applied to the University of California and 59 (78%) were admitted to at least one campus. The most popular choice was UC Irvine with 63 applicants. The hardest campus to get into was UC Los Angeles (4 of 49 admitted, 8%), and the easiest was UC Merced (94%). Admitted students had an average UC GPA (weighted, capped) of 3.84.

What stands out

Its rate of admission to at least one UC campus (78%) was about the same as the Orange County average (76%). Between 2021 and 2025, UC Berkeley got harder for Valley High School students (38% → 14% admitted), while UC San Diego got easier (25% → 45%). Compared with all applicants, its students did better at UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz and worse at UC Davis and UC Irvine.

Fall 2025 results by campus

CampusAppliedAdmittedAdmit rateAll applicants’ rateEnrolledAvg GPA appliedAvg GPA admitted
Any UC campus765978%—193.733.84
UC Berkeley35514%11%33.734.11
UC Davis23939%44%—3.754.21
UC Irvine631625%29%63.774.13
UC Los Angeles4948%9%—3.76—
UC Merced181794%94%—3.543.59
UC Riverside312684%87%—3.613.71
UC San Diego401845%28%53.754.09
UC Santa Barbara301550%38%—3.744.09
UC Santa Cruz221882%72%—3.884.01

“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 campus75% (83/111)70% (68/97)73% (85/116)74% (69/93)78% (59/76)
UC Berkeley38% (14/37)26% (11/42)25% (13/53)20% (10/50)14% (5/35)
UC Davis40% (12/30)50% (12/24)59% (17/29)34% (12/35)39% (9/23)
UC Irvine24% (21/88)28% (24/86)25% (24/96)33% (24/73)25% (16/63)
UC Los Angeles13% (9/72)11% (6/57)4% (3/70)20% (10/51)8% (4/49)
UC Merced89% (24/27)84% (16/19)88% (22/25)79% (11/14)94% (17/18)
UC Riverside70% (37/53)59% (30/51)58% (28/48)78% (32/41)84% (26/31)
UC San Diego25% (13/51)42% (20/48)40% (21/53)54% (27/50)45% (18/40)
UC Santa Barbara37% (15/41)65% (13/20)32% (16/50)41% (15/37)50% (15/30)
UC Santa Cruz68% (28/41)57% (17/30)65% (30/46)62% (21/34)82% (18/22)

Admit rate, with admitted / applied in parentheses.

Where would your GPA land?

Enter your GPA to compare yourself with students from Valley 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.