Methodology and sources
Every number on WhoGotIn traces back to a file a public agency or school published. Here is which source, which years, and where the numbers have limits.
Sources
| Source | Years | Used for | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| UC admissions by source schoolUniversity of California Information Center | fall 2015–2025 | UC applicants, admits, admit rates, and admitted students' mean GPA, all campuses and each campus; each campus's admit rate over all California high-school applicants | UC hides counts below 3. Each campus's California applicants rate adds up every California high school's applicants and admits that fall, counting a hidden admit count as 1. GPA is UC's weighted, capped high school GPA, averaged over admitted students or over all applicants. Campus counts double-count students admitted to several campuses; the all-campus count does not. When one year has under 10 applicants, a campus shows the pooled rate over up to three years instead. |
| CSU high school dashboardCalifornia State University | fall 2020–2025 | CSU applicants and admits by campus | The dashboard lists each school's most-applied campuses; a student admitted to several campuses counts once per campus. |
| Campus overall admit rates and test scores (IPEDS)U.S. Department of Education | fall 2019–2023 | Each campus's overall admit rate (all applicants, including out-of-state and international), shown beside the school's rate for CSU campuses, and the SAT and ACT middle 50% of its enrolled freshmen; applicants, admit rates, yield, and SAT and ACT ranges on the Ivy League and top university pages | IPEDS lags a year or two; the year used is shown next to each rate. |
| College-going ratesCalifornia Department of Education | classes of 2015–2023 | Where graduates enroll within 12 months (public schools) | Counts under 11 are suppressed by the state. The full report breaks each class down by student group (gender, race or ethnicity, low-income, English learners, disabilities, and more). For classes the state has not published yet, the full report gives an early look: UC's and CSU's own counts of freshmen from the school over its seniors that fall. UC's share has run within about a point of the state's; CSU lists only a school's most-applied campuses, so its share is a floor. |
| A–G completionCalifornia Department of Education | classes of 2015–2023 | Share of graduates who completed the courses UC and CSU require | From the college-going file; public schools only. |
| Enrollment by gradeCalifornia Department of Education | school years ending 2015–2026 | 12th graders (seniors), the base for the share who applied and were admitted | October counts, so slightly above the number who graduate. Private schools report grade 12 on the private school affidavit. |
| CAASPP Smarter Balanced, grade 11California Department of Education | tested 2015–2025 | Share of juniors meeting or exceeding, and exceeding, the English and math standards | No test in 2020; 2021 testing was optional. Private schools do not take CAASPP. |
| Free or reduced-price meals (FRPM)California Department of Education | school years ending 2018–2026 | Share of low-income students | Public schools only. |
| School profiles and matriculation listsEach high school's own website | as published | Named colleges a school reports its graduates at, including private and out-of-state ones | Self-reported by schools, so only some schools have one, and schools count different things (enrolled, admitted, applied, or attended over several classes); each list says which. Names are matched to the federal college list; lists read only automatically are marked as not yet verified. |
| National Student Clearinghouse reports (via districts)School districts (StudentTracker reports) | as published | The share of a district's graduates enrolling at 4-year and 2-year colleges | Published by some districts only; shares are for the district's graduates, not one school. |
How schools are matched
State files identify schools by their 14-digit CDS code. UC and CSU identify schools by name and their own codes, so each UC and CSU record is matched to a CDS code by name and city within the county, with hand-checked corrections for the cases a name match gets wrong. Charter schools that changed district codes are followed to their current code.
Small numbers
UC hides counts under 3 and the state hides college-going counts under 11. WhoGotIn shows no rate when a school had fewer than 10 applicants or a count is hidden, and says "too few applicants to report" instead of guessing. A hidden count is never shown as zero.
Accuracy and corrections
WhoGotIn is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any of the publishers above or any school or college. Their files can contain errors, and our own steps can add some. The ones to know:
- A UC or CSU record matched to the wrong school, most often when a school changed its name or code.
- Hidden counts: a campus rate can rest on an estimate of the hidden admits, and pooled years blur change from year to year.
- College lists read from school documents partly by automated means; lists not yet checked by hand are marked as not verified.
- Federal figures that lag a year or two, and sources that revise figures after we load them.
Check anything important against the original source or with the school or college. The Terms of Use explain that figures are provided as is. Found a mistake? Report an error.
What these numbers don't tell you
- Any one student's chances. These are school-wide figures from public files, not predictions.
- Private colleges. Stanford, USC, and the Ivies do not publish admissions by high school.
- Why a school's numbers differ. Who applies, which campuses they choose, and the size of the class all move the figures.