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San Marcos Senior High School

4750 Hollister Avenue, Santa Barbara, CA 93110View on map

  • Public
  • Santa Barbara
  • 434 seniors
  • 1,941 students

San Marcos Senior High School is a public high school in Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara Unified) with 434 seniors. In fall 2025, 75% of its 139 University of California applicants were admitted, compared with a county median of 75%. Its students applied most often to UC Los Angeles (UCLA), UC San Diego (UCSD), and UC Berkeley (Cal). 63% of the class of 2023 completed the A–G courses UC requires.

Year

UC admit rate

75%

104 of 139 applicants, fall 2025

County median 75%

Seniors admitted to a UC

24%

104 of 434 seniors

County median 17%

Seniors who applied to UC

32%

139 of 434 seniors

County median 24%

UC Los Angeles (UCLA) admit rate

10%

10 of 100 applicants, fall 2025

CA applicants 9.6%

UC Berkeley (Cal) admit rate

22%

18 of 82 applicants, fall 2025

CA applicants 13%

Campus by campus, fall 2025

The share of this school's applicants each campus admitted, beside the campus's rate for everyone else. Hardest campus first.

University of California

San Marcos Senior High School applicants did better than all California applicants at 5 of 9 campuses, about the same at 1 and worse at 3.

  • Los AngelesAbout the same

    10%

    10 of 100 admitted

    This school10%All CA10%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.33 (all applicants 4.02)

  • Berkeley8 pts higher

    22%

    18 of 82 admitted

    This school22%All CA13%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.25 (all applicants 4.11)

  • Irvine11 pts higher

    33%

    23 of 70 admitted

    This school33%All CA22%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.25 (all applicants 3.94)

  • San Diego5 pts lower

    20%

    17 of 87 admitted

    This school20%All CA25%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.28 (all applicants 4.00)

  • Santa Barbara17 pts higher

    49%

    38 of 77 admitted

    This school49%All CA32%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.22 (all applicants 3.91)

  • Davis24 pts higher

    61%

    40 of 66 admitted

    This school61%All CA37%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.22 (all applicants 4.01)

  • Santa Cruz14 pts higher

    85%

    62 of 73 admitted

    This school85%All CA71%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.09 (all applicants 3.94)

  • Riverside12 pts lower

    75%

    27 of 36 admitted

    This school75%All CA87%

    Admitted students' average GPA 3.99 (all applicants 3.78)

  • Merced10 pts lower

    86%

    25 of 29 admitted

    This school86%All CA96%

    Admitted students' average GPA 3.89 (all applicants 3.71)

Fall 2025. A student admitted to several campuses counts once at each one. All CA is the campus’s admit rate that fall for applicants from every California high school. Within 3 points counts as about the same. GPA is the UC-calculated GPA (weighted, capped).

California State University

San Marcos Senior High School applicants did better than the campus overall at 2 of 4 campuses, about the same at 1 and worse at 1.

  • San Luis Obispo5 pts lower

    25%

    24 of 96 admitted

    This school25%Overall30%

  • San Diego22 pts higher

    56%

    49 of 87 admitted

    This school56%Overall34%

  • Long Beach14 pts higher

    62%

    32 of 52 admitted

    This school62%Overall47%

  • Channel IslandsAbout the same

    96%

    27 of 28 admitted

    This school96%Overall93%

Fall 2025. A student admitted to several campuses counts once at each one. Overall is the campus’s admit rate for all its applicants, from federal IPEDS data (fall 2023, the latest published). Within 3 points counts as about the same.

Where graduates go

Class of 2023 (475 graduates), the latest published by fall 2025, within 12 months of graduating.

Any college

83%

393 of 475 graduates

UC or CSU

18%

84 graduates

Community college

45%

216 graduates

DestinationGraduatesShare
UC5512%
CSU296%
CA private college378%
Out of state5612%
Community college21645%
Not enrolled8217%
Enrolled in college39383%
Total475100%

How each student group compares

Compare college-going across student groups

  • Gender: Female, Male
  • Race & ethnicity: Hispanic or Latino, White, Asian
  • Student need: Low-income, Students with disabilities, English learners, Homeless
See the full report

Advanced Placement

5

AP courses offered

2023–24 school year · US Dept. of Education Civil Rights Data Collection

29

AP class sections

Counts every section taught, so it is larger than the number of different AP courses.

28% of students are in AP courses

2024–25 school year · California School Accountability Report Card

39%

of graduating seniors passed at least two AP exams or courses

197 of 499 graduates

A score of 3 or higher on exams or a C- or better in courses. Not comparable with the exam-only share.

2025–26 school year · California Department of Education (College/Career Indicator)

16%

of graduating seniors scored 3 or higher on at least two AP exams

81 of 492 graduates

2023–24 school year · California Department of Education (College/Career Indicator)

Subject areas

  • English: 5 classes
  • Fine and performing arts: 1 class
  • Foreign language: 3 classes
  • Mathematics: 4 classes
  • Science: 6 classes
  • Social science: 10 classes

Academic context

State test (CAASPP), juniors tested in 2026, and the share of low-income students. A–G is the class of 2023. The tick is the county median.

  • Juniors meeting the English standard 53%County median 52%
  • Juniors meeting the math standard 31%County median 23%
  • Juniors exceeding the English standard 24%County median 18%
  • Juniors exceeding the math standard 13%County median 7%
  • Low-income students 55%County median 58%
  • Graduates completing courses 63%County median 48%

Across California

Year
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