Welcome to College confidential. It is great are you starting to work on your college list. As a California resident, you have many options within the UC and Cal state system and will receive a great education at any number of colleges in-state.
For the UC’s and Cal states, they calculate out their GPA’s for admission using only 10-11th grades for the a-g course requirements. (Exception is Cal Poly SLO which uses 9-11th grades). For each semester of a UC approved Honors course, AP, IB or UC/CSU transferable DE course taken in HS, you are given an extra Honors point weighting in the calculation. The UC’s have 3 UC GPA’s they consider which are Unweighted, Capped weighted (maximum 8 Honors points) and Weighted Uncapped (unlimited Honors points). The Cal states only use the Capped weighted GPA.
I have linked both calculators so at the end of Junior year, you can calculate out the UC and CSU GPA’s to help you gauge your chances better. If you are not sure about your HS’s a-g courses, you can use this link to check: University of California A-G Course List
Another good source to see how your HS performs in the UC admissions is this link which has the average Capped weighted UC GPA and admit information for your CA HS: Admissions by source school | University of California
Below is some statistical data for the admitted GPA ranges for 2025 Freshman and not major specific:
| Campus | UC GPA’s 25th-75th percentile for admitted freshman | Overall Acceptance Rates |
|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | Capped weighted: 4.15-4.29 Unweighted: 3.90-4.00 Weighted Uncapped: 4.32-4.68 | 11.4% |
| UC Davis | Capped weighted: 4.00-4.26 Unweighted: 3.79-4.00 | 44.6% |
| UC Irvine | Capped weighted: 4.04-4.27 Unweighted: 3.84-4.00 | 28.7% |
| UCLA | Capped weighted: 4.20-4.30 Unweighted: 3.95-4.00 | 9.4% |
| UC Merced | Capped weighted: 3.54-4.15 | 95.1% |
| UC Riverside | Capped weighted: 3.65-4.16 | 87.1% |
| UC San Diego | Capped weighted: 4.11-4.28 Unweighted: 3.84-4.00 | 28.4% |
| UC Santa Barbara | Capped weighted: 4.09-4.28 Average Weighted Uncapped: 4.29 | 38.2% |
| UC Santa Cruz | Capped weighted: 3.83-4.20 | 72.7% |
Here is 2024 Freshman admit data for Mechanical/Aerospace and Robotics Engineering for the UC’s:
| Campus | Mechanical Engineering | Aerospace |
|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | 4.9% UC Capped weighted GPA 4.20-4.30. Uncapped weighted 4.30-4.79 Unweighted 3.89-4.00 | 4.5% |
| UC Davis | Estimated <25% Selective Major UC Capped weighted GPA 4.09-4.29 Unweighted 3.80-4.00 | Estimated 34% |
| UC Irvine | 12.5% UC Capped weighted GPA 4.11-4.29 Unweighted 3.83-4.00 | 18.4% |
| UCLA | 3.8% UC Capped weighted GPA 4.25-4.32. Uncapped weighted 4.55-4.81 Unweighted 3.95-4.00 | 3.3% |
| UC Merced | 90% UC Capped weighted GPA 3.59-4.15 | New Major Fall 2025 No data |
| UC Riverside | 51.5% UC Capped weighted GPA 3.95-4.24 | Aerospace Major not available/Robotics major 75% |
| UC San Diego | Estimated 18% UC Capped weighted GPA 4.15-4.30 Unweighted 3.84-4.00 | Estimated 18% |
| UC Santa Barbara | Estimated <15% UC Capped weighted GPA 4.20-4.30 | Aerospace Major not available |
| UC Santa Cruz | ME Not available. Robotic Engineering 71% UC Capped weighted GPA 3.87-4.22 | Aerospace Major not available |
I would also suggest you look into any number of Cal states with Mechanical Engineering/Aerospace majors. Below is a list of the Impacted Cal state admit rates and GPA admit ranges for 2024
| Campus | Aerospace | Mechanical | CSU GPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cal Poly SLO | Projected 11% | Projected 15% | College of Engineering SLO GPA 4.13-4.25 |
| Cal Poly Pomona | CPP Major threshold 4710 so a GPA of 4.26 without other factor points | CPP Major threshold of 4536 so a CSU GPA of 4.08 without other factor points | See CPP major index thresholds |
| San Diego State | 44% | 40% | Avg Campus CSU GPA of 4.06 |
| Cal State Long Beach | 47% | 50% | Avg CSU GPA 4.03 overall 4.07 for Non-local applicants |
| San Jose State | Impaction threshold of 4230 | Impaction threshold of 4620 | Calculate impaction index using threshold numbers |
Good luck with your college list but make sure you have at least 2 Safety schools on your list, that are affordable and you are willing to attend no matter what happens.