As of October 2026: Across the 9 Irvine high schools we track, UC admit rates run from 18.2% at Irvine High School to 36.5% at Crean Lutheran High School, and the two published lists are led by UC Irvine and UC Riverside. The highest UC Reach Score in the city is 161 at Pacific Academy Irvine, which means top-6 UC admits outnumber seniors there.
A school-by-school look at UC admit rates, Reach Scores, and published college lists for every Irvine high school in our data.
By Nick Standlea, Test Prep Gurus. Figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.
UC admit rates in Irvine span 18 points The 9 Irvine high schools in our table range from 18.2% at Irvine High School to 36.5% at Crean Lutheran High School. That is a wide spread for one city. It tells us the same student profile can read very differently depending on the pool around them. Families should plan around their own school's numbers rather than a city-wide average.
One Irvine school posts a UC Reach Score of 161 Pacific Academy Irvine sits at 161, the highest in the city. A UC Reach Score counts top-6 UC admits at each campus per 100 seniors. A score above 100 means the class as a group held more top-6 UC admits than it had seniors. Portola High School and University High both sit at 67, and Irvine High School sits at 43.
Portola graduates land at UC Irvine more than anywhere else Portola High School's published list for the Class of 2020 - 2024 shows 397 acceptances to Irvine, 378 to Riverside, and 246 to Fullerton. The top three are all within a short drive of home. Berkeley shows 154 over the same set of classes, which is real but far smaller than the local count.
Every Irvine high school: UC Reach Score, UC admit rate, and published college lists
All 9 Irvine high schools in our data, sorted by UC Reach Score. A blank cell means the figure is not reported for that school. The college lists come from each school's own published page, and the years differ by school.
| High school | UC Reach Score | UC admit rate | List type | List years | Top colleges on the school's list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Academy Irvine | 161 | 33.8% | acceptances | 2026 | University of California Riverside (16); University of California Irvine (11); Chapman University (9); New York University (5); University of California San Diego (5); University of California Santa Cruz (5); University of California Merced (3); Babson College (2) |
| Crean Lutheran High School | 94 | 36.5% | matriculation | not stated | -- |
| Northwood High School | 71 | 23.7% | matriculation | Class of 2013 2017 | -- |
| Portola High School | 67 | 22.6% | acceptances | Class of 2020 - 2024 | Irvine (397); Riverside (378); Fullerton (246); Santa Barbara (232); San Diego (202); Davis (178); Berkeley (154); Santa Cruz (149) |
| University High | 67 | 21.9% | matriculation | Class of 2023 | -- |
| Arnold O Beckman High School | 66 | 27.0% | -- | -- | -- |
| Tarbut V'Torah Community Day School | 65 | 26.2% | matriculation | Class of 2026 | -- |
| Woodbridge High School | 46 | 21.7% | -- | -- | -- |
| Irvine High School | 43 | 18.2% | -- | -- | -- |
UC Reach Score = top-6 UC admits (counted at each campus) per 100 seniors; it can exceed 100. Senior counts, top-6 admit counts, and college-going rates are not reported for these schools in our data.
Where do Irvine high school graduates go to college?
Most of the named colleges are close to home. The two Irvine schools that publish a college list both put University of California campuses at the top, and the nearest ones lead. Portola High School's list for the Class of 2020 - 2024 shows Irvine (397) first and Riverside (378) second. Pacific Academy Irvine's 2026 list shows University of California Riverside (16) first and University of California Irvine (11) second.
The pattern holds as you read down each list. Portola adds Fullerton (246), Santa Barbara (232), San Diego (202), and Davis (178). Those are all public California campuses. Pacific Academy adds Chapman University (9) and University of California San Diego (5), which are also close.
Private and out-of-state names do appear, but in smaller counts. Pacific Academy Irvine lists New York University (5) and Babson College (2). Portola lists Berkeley (154) across its published classes, well behind its local leaders.
For a parent, the takeaway is simple. The colleges on these lists are mostly California publics, and they sit within a few hours of Irvine. That shapes how much the cost adds up to and when prep should start. It also means the UC application, with its own rules and its own timeline, is the one your family will spend the most time on.
We should be clear about the limits. Only 2 of the 9 Irvine schools in our table publish a college list we can read. The years do not match either. Portola covers a span of classes. Pacific Academy covers one year.
Which Irvine high school has the highest UC admit rate?
Crean Lutheran High School leads at 36.5%. Pacific Academy Irvine follows at 33.8%, then Arnold O Beckman High School at 27.0% and Tarbut V'Torah Community Day School at 26.2%. The lowest in our table is Irvine High School at 18.2%.
The full spread runs 18 points across the city. Northwood High School sits at 23.7%, Portola High School at 22.6%, University High at 21.9%, and Woodbridge High School at 21.7%. Four of the 9 schools cluster between 21.7% and 23.7%, which is a tight band.
A high admit rate does not always mean the school is doing something the others are not. Smaller schools often have a more self-selected group applying. When fewer students apply, and the ones who do are the strongest, the rate rises.
The large public schools carry much bigger senior classes. A rate of 21.7% at Woodbridge can still mean more admitted students than a higher rate at a small school. Our table does not report senior counts for these schools, so we cannot do that math here.
What a family should take from this: use your school's rate as a baseline, not a verdict. A 21.9% rate at University High means about one in five applications ends in an admit. Your child's own file moves the odds more than the school average does.
What is a UC Reach Score, and why is Pacific Academy Irvine at 161?
A UC Reach Score counts top-6 UC admits, counted at each campus, per 100 seniors, and it can go above 100. Pacific Academy Irvine sits at 161, the highest in Irvine. That means the school's seniors, as a group, collected more top-6 UC admits than there were seniors.
This happens when strong students get into several UC campuses at once. One student admitted to San Diego, Davis, and Irvine counts three times in the score. So the number measures depth of admits, not how many students got in.
Crean Lutheran High School is next at 94. Northwood High School sits at 71. Portola High School and University High tie at 67, Arnold O Beckman High School at 66, and Tarbut V'Torah Community Day School at 65. Woodbridge High School is 46 and Irvine High School is 43.
Notice that the Reach Score and the admit rate do not always move together. Crean Lutheran has the top admit rate at 36.5% but a Reach Score of 94, below Pacific Academy's 161. Northwood has a 23.7% admit rate but a Reach Score of 71, above Portola and University High.
For parents, the Reach Score answers a different question than the admit rate. The rate tells you how often an application works. The Reach Score tells you how thick the admit pile is at the top of the class. Both are useful, and neither one predicts your own child.
How do Northwood, University High, and Woodbridge compare?
Northwood High School leads this group with a UC Reach Score of 71 and a UC admit rate of 23.7%. University High follows with a Reach Score of 67 and a rate of 21.9%. Woodbridge High School sits at a Reach Score of 46 and a rate of 21.7%.
These three are large public schools in the same city, and their admit rates are close. The gap between University High at 21.9% and Woodbridge at 21.7% is small. The Reach Score gap is the one that stands out: 71 and 67 against 46.
That gap usually means the top of the class at Northwood and University High is collecting more multi-campus UC admits. Woodbridge students are still getting in at nearly the same rate, but the stack of admits per student looks thinner in the data.
None of these three publishes a college list we can read in full. Northwood's matriculation page covers the Class of 2013 2017, which is old. University High's covers the Class of 2023. Woodbridge does not report a list type in our data at all.
If your child attends one of these schools, the practical move is the same at all three. Build a UC application that stands on course rigor and essays. The small gap in admit rate will not decide your year.
Which Irvine schools publish a college list, and how should we read it?
Six of the 9 Irvine schools in our table report a list type, and only 2 of those include the actual college names we can print. Pacific Academy Irvine publishes acceptances for 2026. Portola High School publishes acceptances for the Class of 2020 - 2024.
The word acceptances matters. An acceptance list counts offers, not enrollments. Portola's Irvine (397) means 397 offers across its published classes, not 397 students who packed a bag for UC Irvine. Many students hold several offers and pick one.
A matriculation list is different. It counts where students actually went. Crean Lutheran High School, Northwood High School, University High, and Tarbut V'Torah Community Day School all report matriculation lists, but our data does not carry the college names for them.
The years also differ, which makes side-by-side reading tricky. Pacific Academy's list is one year, 2026. Portola's covers the Class of 2020 - 2024. Crean Lutheran's year is not stated. Northwood's runs Class of 2013 2017 and is well out of date for current planning.
Our advice is to read a list for shape, not for odds. A list tells you the set of colleges that take students from this school. It does not tell you what a given GPA or test score needed to be. Treat it as a map of where families in your neighborhood have landed.
What kinds of colleges show up on the Irvine lists?
Public California campuses fill most of the slots. On Portola High School's list, seven of the eight named colleges are UC campuses: Irvine (397), Riverside (378), Santa Barbara (232), San Diego (202), Davis (178), Berkeley (154), and Santa Cruz (149). The eighth, Fullerton (246), is a Cal State campus.
Pacific Academy Irvine's 2026 list is more mixed. It names University of California Riverside (16), University of California Irvine (11), University of California San Diego (5), University of California Santa Cruz (5), and University of California Merced (3). It also names Chapman University (9), New York University (5), and Babson College (2).
So one list is almost all public, and one has a private share. That is a real difference in shape, and it may reflect the size and makeup of each school more than anything else. Pacific Academy's list covers a single year, so a few students can move the order.
For a family, the useful step is to check each college on your own list one at a time. Rules on tests, deadlines, and aid are set by each college, and they change. Our data covers where students got in, not the rules each college applies.
We also cannot see the full set of colleges. These lists name the top entries only, so smaller counts sit outside the table.
What does our data say about test scores at these colleges?
Our data says nothing about test policy, and we will not guess. The table holds UC Reach Scores, UC admit rates, list types, list years, and top colleges. It does not hold a column for whether any college requires, recommends, or ignores the SAT or the ACT.
That is a real gap, and we name it rather than fill it. A page that invents a policy line helps no one. The only honest source for a test rule is the admission page of the college itself, for the exact year your child applies.
What we can say is where these students got in. Portola High School's list is led by Irvine (397) and Riverside (378). Pacific Academy Irvine's 2026 list is led by University of California Riverside (16) and University of California Irvine (11). Those are the names to look up first.
Plans change when the list changes. A student aiming only at the names above has a short set of rules to read. A student adding New York University (5) or Babson College (2) has more pages to check, and each one may ask for something different.
Our free mock SAT and ACT is a low-cost way to see where a student starts. It does not decide the policy question. It tells you what a score would look like if a score turns out to matter for the list you build.
When should an Irvine student start SAT or ACT prep?
We tell families to plan on a 6-12 week prep window, and to place it so the real test lands before senior-year applications are due. For most Irvine students that means a first real sitting in the spring of junior year, with prep starting in the winter.
The reason is scheduling, not difficulty. Junior spring is already full of AP exams and finals. A 6-12 week window that starts in January leaves room to test in March or May, see the score, and take one more shot in the summer or early fall if needed.
Starting earlier is fine if the math is in place. A student who has finished Algebra 2 can handle the full test. A student still in the middle of it will spend prep time learning content instead of learning the test, which is a slower path.
Starting later is the common mistake. A family that begins in September of senior year is prepping while essays, supplements, and the UC application are all live. That is when scores plateau and stress spikes.
We run a free mock SAT and ACT so families can set the window with real data instead of a guess. The mock shows the starting score and shows which of the two tests fits the student. You can reach our office at 949.229.5359 to put a date on the calendar.
How many Irvine high schools are in this data, and what is missing?
Our table holds 9 Irvine high schools, and every one of them is in this page. That set includes large public campuses and smaller schools such as Crean Lutheran High School, Pacific Academy Irvine, and Tarbut V'Torah Community Day School.
Several columns are not reported for these schools. Senior counts are blank for all 9. Top-6 admit counts are blank for all 9. The CDE college-going rate is blank for all 9. We leave those cells empty rather than guess at them.
That matters for how you read the Reach Score. The score is built from admits per 100 seniors, but we cannot show you the senior count that sits underneath it. So we can compare schools to each other, and we can rank them, but we cannot rebuild the math on this page.
The college lists are also uneven. Arnold O Beckman High School, Woodbridge High School, and Irvine High School do not report a list type in our data. Crean Lutheran reports a matriculation list with the year not stated.
We would rather name these gaps than paper over them. A parent making a plan deserves to know which parts of the picture are solid and which parts are blank. The admit rates and Reach Scores are solid. The enrollment counts are not here.
What does a 33.8% or 36.5% UC admit rate mean for my child's list?
Even at the top of the Irvine table, Crean Lutheran High School's 36.5% means roughly one application in three ends in an admit. At Pacific Academy Irvine's 33.8%, it is close to the same. These are the best rates in the city, and they still mean most applications do not land.
That is why we push every family toward a list with range. The UC system has campuses at very different levels of selectivity, and Portola High School's own list shows it. Irvine (397) and Riverside (378) are much larger counts than Berkeley (154).
A sensible list applies broadly inside the UC system rather than aiming at two famous names. Add a Cal State or two; Fullerton (246) appears high on Portola's list for a reason. Add one or two private options if the budget and the fit work.
The admit rate at your school is a floor, not a ceiling. A student with strong grades in hard courses and a clear story in the essays will beat the school average. A student who applies to three campuses and hopes will not.
One more point. Because the rate counts applications, not students, a child who applies to six UC campuses has six chances at that rate. Breadth inside the system is the cheapest way to raise the odds of at least one admit.
Why do so many Irvine graduates end up at UC Irvine and UC Riverside?
Distance and cost. Portola High School's list puts Irvine (397) first and Riverside (378) second, and Pacific Academy Irvine's 2026 list puts University of California Riverside (16) first and University of California Irvine (11) second. Both schools show the same two names on top.
UC Irvine is in the city itself. A student can live at home or move a short drive away. For a family covering four years, the savings on housing and travel add up to real money, and many families choose that on purpose.
Riverside is the other half of the pattern. It is a UC within driving distance, and it offers the same degree system. For a strong Irvine student who does not land Berkeley or San Diego, it is a solid landing spot.
The rest of the pattern follows the same logic. Fullerton (246) is a Cal State a short drive north. Santa Barbara (232), San Diego (202), and Davis (178) are all in-state publics within a few hours or a short flight.
For parents, this reframes the whole project. The goal is not one famous name. The goal is a set of good in-state options that the family can afford and the student can thrive at. The data from Irvine's own schools says that is exactly where most graduates get in.
What should a family at an Irvine school do first?
Start with the college list, because the list sets every deadline and rule that follows. If every name is a UC or a Cal State, like Irvine (397), Riverside (378), and Fullerton (246) on Portola High School's list, then one set of rules covers most of the year.
If the list includes private or out-of-state names, like New York University (5), Babson College (2), or Chapman University (9) on Pacific Academy Irvine's list, then each college has its own page to read. Plan for more forms and more dates.
Second, take a free mock SAT and ACT early in junior year. The mock answers two questions at once: which test fits this student, and how far the starting score is from the target. From there the 6-12 week window is easy to place on a calendar.
Third, read your own school's numbers with calm. A 21.7% or 18.2% admit rate is not a ceiling on your child. It is the average of many different files, most of which were not built with a plan.
We are a local team and we work with families across Irvine and the rest of Orange County. Our office is at 23 Corporate Plaza Drive, Suite 150, Newport Beach, and the phone is 949.229.5359. We are glad to look at your school's page with you and talk through what the next year should hold.
Questions parents ask
Which Irvine high school has the highest UC admit rate?
Crean Lutheran High School leads at 36.5%.
What is a UC Reach Score?
A UC Reach Score counts top-6 UC admits, counted at each campus, per 100 seniors, and it can go above 100.
Where do Portola High School graduates get in most often?
Portola High School's list for the Class of 2020 - 2024 shows Irvine (397) first and Riverside (378) second.
Does this page say whether colleges require an SAT or ACT score?
Our data says nothing about test policy, and we will not guess.
When should an Irvine student start test prep?
We tell families to plan on a 6-12 week prep window, and to place it so the real test lands before senior-year applications are due.
How many Irvine high schools are in this data?
Our table holds 9 Irvine high schools, and every one of them is in this page.
Why are some columns blank for Irvine schools?
Senior counts are blank for all 9. Top-6 admit counts are blank for all 9. The CDE college-going rate is blank for all 9.
Does an acceptance list show where students actually enrolled?
An acceptance list counts offers, not enrollments.
Method and sources: The school rows come from the UC Information Center's Fall 2025 admits by school file, the California Department of Education college-going rate file, and each school's own published matriculation or acceptance page, shown on highschoolreach.com. The population is the 9 high schools in Irvine that appear in that data as of October 2026. Senior counts, top-6 admit counts, and college-going rates are not reported for any of these 9 schools, so those columns stay blank rather than estimated. The data holds no test-score policy for any college, so this page does not state one. Acceptance lists count offers and matriculation lists count enrollments, the years covered differ by school, and rows are sorted by UC Reach Score, highest first.
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