Did you know? More College Park seniors got into UC last year than seniors at Campolindo or Miramonte — at least when you compare the percentages. College Park's UC admit rate in the most recent published cycle: 37 percent. Miramonte: 32 percent. Campolindo: 32 percent. Acalanes: 33 percent.

That's the kind of number that makes a Lamorinda parent stop and think. Especially if you bought your house specifically to be in the Acalanes Union school district with high academic expectations. So before we go any further: this is not bad news for Acalanes-district families. We promise. 

By the end of this post you'll understand why these numbers don't mean what they look like on the surface. You're a parent and you deserve the actual data, so here it is. This is the second post in our six-week regional series. For the next several weeks we're going to walk through a specific Bay Area region, review the public and charter high schools, and uncover what the UC numbers actually say. 

Today: Lamorinda — Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda — plus several nearby Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill schools. 

Lamorinda and Walnut Creek high schools, ranked

This is every public high school we have UC data on, in the Acalanes Union and Mt. Diablo Unified districts that serve Lamorinda and central Contra Costa, ranked by UC admit rate in the most recent published cycle (Fall 2025 — kids who started college this past fall).

A few things probably jumped out:



• The two Mt. Diablo Unified schools — College Park and Northgate — top the list. They're not the ones most families assume are the strongest UC pipelines.
• The three "name-brand" Acalanes Union schools — Campolindo, Miramonte, Acalanes — are at the bottom of the list, all within a single point of each other.
• Las Lomas, also in Acalanes Union, sits between the two clusters at 34 percent.

This is real. It's also not what most families in Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda assume — many of whom paid a real estate premium specifically for the Acalanes district. So let's talk about why.

Why the "good schools" admission rates are lower

Here's the thing that a UC reviewer does that many don't: they read every application in context.

When a student applies to a UC from Campolindo or Miramonte, the UC reviewer sees the school profile. They know these schools offer 18 to 24 AP courses. They see that the average senior took 4 to 6 APs. They understand that nearly every senior is college-bound, that most have parents with graduate degrees, and that the schools spend well above the state average per pupil. A UC reviewer reads the kid's transcript against that environment.

When a student applies from College Park or Northgate, the same reviewer sees a school with a more mixed student profile. Strong AP offerings, but a more diverse range of post-high-school plans. A wider mix of family backgrounds. The UC reviewer reads that student’s transcript against their environment too.

It's not that the UC reviewer is grading Campolindo kids harder. It's that they are asking: did this student maximize what was in front of them? At a school with 22 AP courses and where almost every classmate is taking them, "maximizing" means something different than at a school with 14 APs and a more varied senior class. At a school where two-thirds of parents have graduate degrees, "first generation" means something different than at a school where most families went to college.

The math of it: when you take a high-performing applicant pool from Campolindo or Miramonte — where most kids meet the basic UC bar and many far exceed it — and run them through holistic review where the school's strong profile is "expected" rather than "exceptional," the admit rate compresses. When you take a slightly more variable applicant pool from College Park or Northgate where strong applications stand out more relative to the school's profile, the admit rate stretches.

This is not bad news for Acalanes-district families. It's actually how UC has worked since 1996, when California banned race-based admissions and UC leaned harder into family income, school profile, and first-generation status as the things they could legally consider. 

What about the students actually getting in?

Here's a number that does not show up on the rankings list. Miramonte sent 365 kids to a UC last year. College Park sent 283. In raw counts, Miramonte is sending more kids to UC every single year than College Park. Campolindo sent 345. Acalanes sent 302. Las Lomas sent 380.

The Acalanes Union schools are still sending more kids to UC schools by sheer count, because they have larger and more uniformly strong applicant pools. Their admit rate looks lower because the pool is so consistently strong that fewer of them stand out as exceptional in UC's reading. But the actual number of admits per school — the kids who walk across the stage and get a UC sticker — is still concentrated at the schools you'd expect.

Translated: if you're a Campolindo or Miramonte parent and your student is in the top half of the class, takes hard courses, and writes a thoughtful application, the math is still very much on their side. The rate is just compressed.

What this means for your kid

Students from Campolindo, Miramonte, or Acalanes: the admit rate at the school is not your student’s individual admit rate. The UC’s read each applicant against the school's own profile. Top of the class with strong courses and a real application — they have great chances at multiple UCs. Don't let the school's average rate make you panic, and don't let it make you over-apply to safeties. The mid-30s rate at your school is mostly a story about the strength and uniformity of the applicant pool, not about your child’s individual chances.

Students from Las Lomas: you're in an interesting middle position. The same Acalanes Union district as the Lamorinda three, but with a slightly more diverse student body and a slightly higher admit rate. Read the data both ways — your kid is in a strong school environment but the pool is less uniformly elite.

Students from College Park or Northgate: the data shows your school's applicants are getting in at strong rates, often higher than the more famous neighbors. UC reads the student profile in the context of your school. Don't undersell what's possible — Mt. Diablo Unified sends real numbers to a UC every year. Focus on the individual application, not the district's reputation.

For everyone: spend ten minutes with your high school in our dashboard. Look at the year-over-year trend. Look at which UCs your school sends the most students to. That's a much better list-building starting point than national rankings or which district everyone says is "the best."

A few honest cautions

These are average rates, not your child’s odds. A UC reader reviews each application individually. The same school's top-quarter and bottom-quarter students have very different admit chances.

Private schools are not in this data. UC suppresses school-level data when fewer than 5 students apply, and most private schools fall below that bar at most UCs. Bentley School, Athenian School, Salesian College Prep, and other East Bay privates are not in this dataset. We're working on a separate post for East Bay private schools.

Year ranges matter. The numbers here are for the most recent published cycle, students who started at UC in fall 2025. UC publishes this data with about a 12-month lag, so this is the freshest school-level data available.

Year-over-year variation is small but real. The differences between Campolindo, Miramonte, and Acalanes are within a couple of points, which means the order can shuffle slightly year to year. The bigger pattern — Mt. Diablo schools above, Acalanes Union schools clustered just below — has been stable across multiple recent cycles.

Coming next Thursday

Marin County. Tam, Redwood, Drake, San Marin, Novato, San Rafael, Terra Linda, and the smaller Marin schools. Same approach: every public high school, every UC, with the warm explainer for what the numbers actually mean.

Want help making sense of this for your kid?

Ready to build your student's plan? StrivePath offers personalized academic and college advising for Bay Area students from 7th grade through senior year. Book a free consultation with our team today.

👉 mystrivepath.com — StrivePath: Happier students. Less stressed families. Better admission outcomes.

Sources

• UC Information Center — admissions by source school
• UCOP Fall 2025 Admissions Summary (PDF)
• UC Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC)
• California Department of Education DataQuest