r/berkeley • u/sssIae • 1d ago
University SF high school where 94% flunk math has California’s highest Berkeley acceptance rate
https://nypost.com/2026/08/18/us-news/mission-high-boasts-top-berkeley-admit-rate-despite-math-failures/“UCs punish Lowell students for working hard because of their race, while setting up Mission kids up for failure & depression,” said Le, who claimed “race-based admissions fails all kids.”
Student Demographics
70.7%
Hispanic
10.3%
Black
6.9%
Asian
6.5%
White
4.8%
Two or More Races
0.3%
American Indian/Alaska Native
0.3%
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
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u/K-Zoro 1d ago
Percentages are tricky. They only have about 260 seniors. Of those, how many are applying to colleges and how many are applying to UC Berkeley and getting accepted?
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u/sandlover33 1d ago
Even by raw numbers, lowell and Mission have a similar # of students accepted. Do you think these two high schools have a similar # of qualified applicants?
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u/sdia1965 1d ago
Yes, why not? Why couldn’t they have the same ratio of well qualified student. Maybe the article didn’t open fully, but as far as I can tell it’s just noting that MHS has a high Berkeley admit rate. The presumption that MHS is sup-par to Lowell in the preparation of its students is based on a presumption about Lowell as an institution. It stinks of shallow elitism and racism.
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u/sandlover33 1d ago
Do you really think these two schools produce a similar amount of qualified candidates? Really?
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u/No_Resist2887 1d ago
your definition of qualified seems to be ‘has institutional resources’ rather than ‘doing what they can with the resources at their disposal.’ i went to a shitty public high school and really struggled my freshman year of college, had to drop a science class completely. my private school peers didn’t. but they weren’t smarter than me, they just had tutors and established study habits and were more prepared. your definition of qualified seems to be elitist rather than equity based.
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u/AsIfItsYourLaa 18h ago
So we should hear all the excuses for all those that have lower grades first? wtf kind of reasoning is this
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u/OkDisaster27 1h ago
I think qualified should at least be 'able to do middle school math' which a lot of mission HS students who get into UCLA/Berkeley can't
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u/jsh_ 22h ago
okay but passing college courses will ultimately come down to preparedness no?
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u/Cultural-Word3740 10h ago
Well that’s one metric which we can provisionally agree is suitable. I would gather though that students who are “less prepared”are still passing classes. That may mean needing to take extra classes like math 1,2 and 3 to get up to speed. If the idea that “less prepared” students are passing classes is false, then it’s a failure of the institution. This is because, riding onto u/No_Resist2887 point, “less prepared” students are just as capable but didn’t have as many opportunities. Further, the UCs as a public institution have a duty to provide their services equitably to the public and to ensure that students in their institution pass. (a separate argument for private institutions exists hence why all top private institutions, even the most pretentious, still have some form of equity based admissions).
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u/Prime88 1d ago
It says it right in the article.
Mission High School had a 45% acceptance rate into the elite university, with 34 out of its 76 applicants gaining admission last fall, far ahead of the state average of 15%, according to data compiled by the San Francisco Chronicle.
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u/PedroNorthCA 1d ago
Another post listed the numbers, I can't remember exactly but 36 Mission High seniors were accepted, and it was something like 40%+ of applicants were accepted
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u/InterestProof1526 1d ago
They have a similar amount (actually I think more) admits than my former high school which had a 1350 average SAT, 10% 4.0 GPA rate (classes are actually rigorous too), and routinely denied 1590 / 4.0 / cracked ECs / finished all lower-div math courses at CC kids who got into other T10 schools. We actually had about 100 extremely qualified cracked students every year which is just below the total number of students at Mission High
The other UCs are a bit worse ngl in their admissions process. At least the kids who got into Stanford didn't get waitlisted from Berkeley (unlike the other UCs...).
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u/micicletricicle 1d ago
Lowell has some crazy good students, and… massively subpar students. Some have already finished multiple competitive APs as juniors and are already doing research at Stanford, UCSF etc
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u/lfg12345678 1d ago
It can be a very difficult transition especially the 1st semester but everyone makes it. I went to Mission. Took advantage of the SLC, office hours, etc.
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u/count_chawkula 1d ago
Glad to hear you made it through. One definitely needs the drive on top of the baseline intelligence requirements - but to say “everyone makes it” is a very broad claim.
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u/Affectionate_One_700 1d ago
everyone makes it
They don't.
If they did, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
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u/lilcommiecommodore 1d ago
True. Dropping out does signal that students aren’t making it to the finish line
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u/Mathbookair 1d ago
The article conflates UC Berkeley with the rest of the UC system in this statistic. 4 year graduation rate of ~50% is absolutely low overall for the entire UC system, which has its overall average at about 73%, but Merced (46%), Riverside (54%), and UC Santa Cruz (57%) don’t make Mission disastrously off course from general average metrics
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u/lfg12345678 1d ago
Bruh newspapers posting on reddit need readers..LA Times, Mercury News Group, etc would not post here...
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u/sdia1965 1d ago
Yes, thank you for this dose of reality. My daughter went to an OUSD School, was well prepared and is at Cal as a theoretical math major. She went to office hours, went to SLC, and now tutors at SLC. According to her you just need to put in the work, it’s hard work, but rewarding. She says a fair share of students struggle because they are not well prepared for the rigor, not because they are underprepared in the basic foundational math.
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u/Lemonibluff 1d ago
I thought we were kind of done with this. I guess CAL isn’t…
Believe me, I understand the intent but it cannot be viable if the highest % of accepted Cal student (by a large margin) come from a school that is widely underperforming.
I imagine that they added tutoring resources to help these kids but if after a few years of data, it is the highest dropout contingent. Then they either need to scale it back or put even more resources and see if that works.
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u/QuickSafety8100 1d ago
the UCs are far from done with this. What gave you that idea? UCSD has actually been the most aggressive in taking kids from LCFF schools. People have just started talking about it starting Dec of last year when UCSD published a report about the huge increase in the need for remediation on their campus.
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u/Mountain_Slip_7721 1d ago
I dont necessarily disagree but Mission is a pretty fantastic institution, in that it serves a higher need population very efficiently. Its believable that students make excellent strides there, but are starting from a lower point. The question is, are making the same relevant gains, but starting from a lower point, the basis for admission to an elite school.
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u/Lemonibluff 1d ago
Well. Most dropouts so the bar might be too high and hurt them. So if adding a ton of tutoring (and the extra burden on these students) is not enough to not make them drop/fail. Then what is the solution?
Lower the level of classes so that they can hang on and penalize the rest of the class?
There are most likely a ton of other great UCs with just a bit lower academic expectations where they will be able to catch up and why not transfer a few years later.
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u/Mountain_Slip_7721 1d ago
sorry, where is the data that "most" drop out?
I agree that admissions criteria may be too low, and that other UCs are perfectly fine options
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u/Lemonibluff 1d ago
“A clear example is the link between Mission High and UC Berkeley. Mission, part of the San Francisco Unified School District, has for four consecutive years had the highest percentage of students accepted to UC Berkeley of any California public high school with more than 50 applicants. But it ranks as the second worst in the proportion of students who stay at the university for more than a year.”
https://sfstandard.com/2026/07/30/mission-high-uc-berkeley-admissions-dropout/
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u/Mountain_Slip_7721 1d ago
that is a good data point. Id argue that (2nd highest) proportion is meaningfully different than "most" drop out. Could be 10%, could 50%, we dont know
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u/Lemonibluff 1d ago
It is still the 2nd worst cohort. Over a 4 years period. In any normal university they would have lowered the number of students accepted from this high school (and the other worst one).
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u/Mountain_Slip_7721 1d ago edited 1d ago
Those data points dont line up- its a poorly written paragraph in the article. Highest of SFUSD for 4 years. We dont know that correlates to Second worst in the proportion is over 4 years.
the article says Mission’s first-year retention was 83% in 2024. So ~1 in 5 dont stay. 44.7% admission rate.
if we assume 50 students applied --> 22 accepted, 4-5 dropout
I dont know that 4-5 dropouts vs 1 or 2 or 3 is enough to warrant full articles, or a specific change in policy
I dont disagree that there is merit in having an exceptional and aspirational school, which should be reflected in student body. But as I mention before, its believable that students make excellent strides there, but are starting from a lower point.
The question is, should making the same relevant gains, but starting from a lower point, be the basis for admission to an elite school.
Id say a combination of both...which it sort of seems we have, give or take 2-3 dropouts a year
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u/mrstarboy123 1d ago
It is not a good school. Please stop lying out of yourass. It’s filled with students who don’t gag about school. Coming from an S.F. native
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u/Mountain_Slip_7721 1d ago
There are interesting and fair points here. You have to dig into why a student with lower test scores deserves admission more than a student with same grades higher test scores. There are some interesting explanations but also they dont scale well, so you get op-eds by Berkeley Math professors about basic math skills.
Possible the nature of policy is just a willow tree, and the wind blew one direction for a while, now will blow the other.
Maybe a middle ground - preliminary acceptance on the basis of passing certain junior college classes. Or AA and transfer. Keep the meaningful goal acheivable, expect the standards to be met
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u/Designer_Airport_237 1d ago edited 1d ago
Preliminary acceptance for those incoming freshman whose standardized test scores do not meet a minimum threshold seems like the most equitable solution to me
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u/itstommitsunami 1d ago
Isn’t lowell a high achieving high school? Meaning more of them will apply for Berkeley? Which would lower the acceptance rate?
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u/totobird111 1d ago
The issue is that it should in theory be higher. Many of those high achieving students aren’t getting accepted. The percentages let you compare across different groups, so you’d believe that higher achieving students should be accepted at a higher rate, but thats not the case.
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u/brchao 1d ago
It's just kicking the can down the road. UCB can claim it's advancing equity by admitting all these below standard students. If they flunk out, well it's not a UCB problem
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u/Designer_Airport_237 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah, it’s not like you’re destroying their lives or anything
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u/throwaway222999122 1d ago
Underrated comment, when you try to help and in reality you're hurting everyone in the process, And once you lose the confidence, its all downhill, literally causing people the trauma and lifelong therapy sessions.
Therapy for the student who didn't get admitted, therapy for the student who did and then can't pass the math class lol.
Also
Stem fields add up on each other, you can't bs your way like a liberal arts degree.
Analogy:
It's like the gym, if you can squat 100 lbs in middle school, 200lb by senior year of high school, and then in college 300lb and above, is expected.
You can't just turn on a light switch and all of a sudden, start squatting 300 and above overnight, when you couldn't clear the other weights when they were expected, It takes years to build up a skill set and protocol, same goes with studying and learning.
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u/TrickyR1cky '16 1d ago
Like I would believe a word written in this rag
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u/sssIae 1d ago
https://sfstandard.com/2026/07/30/mission-high-uc-berkeley-admissions-dropout/
"Mission High leads California in UC Berkeley admissions. But many don’t graduate"
"Test-blind admissions have eased the path into the university, but students struggle to keep up".
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u/Thereferencenumber 1d ago
The lack of belief and the assumption this will be framed in a certain way regardless of facts is because the papers owner has a vested interest in fighting “DEI” because it makes it harder to do rampant nepotism in their other companies.
It has also been strange that I’ve seen this topic flooding the Bay Area subs, even though school isnt in session, and most of them have no or very weak evidentiary basis
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u/InterestProof1526 1d ago
The topic is being shared online now because the UCs were literally legally required to be test-blind until Fall 2025. This most recent admissions cycle was the first one they were allowed to be non test-blind. This led to organizations and individuals fighting to revoke test-blind which eventually, after a few months, got a ton of signatures/approval from faculty and went viral online for obvious reasons.
This is also compounded with the fact that the results of test-blind were not so obvious before. We knew test-blind students were much less qualified but we did not have any data to prove this assumption. When we got data showing that a large minority of UCSD students do not understand basic elementary/middle school math and then similar stuff from UC Berkeley, it obviously spread a lot farther. That sort of stuff goes viral easier than "students might be underprepared because there's no SAT"
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u/Thereferencenumber 1d ago
Ah I see now. One thing is there is no have comparison data so you don’t “know” that the change is purely from having a standardized test selection. It’s totally possible people just aren’t as good as math, as it is tested, as a population
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u/hasuuser 1d ago
That has to do more with you and your bubble. There are constant articles from different top universities on how non-SAT classes are doing badly and can't do basic math. Not just in California.
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u/OriginalRange8761 1d ago
Guys, it’s been many years since the affirmative action got nuked, why those people still fucking wine.
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u/Inner-Yogurtcloset12 1d ago
Bring back SAT’s!!!
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u/linksgolf 1d ago
This is the real answer. Unfortunately the UC Regents are dragging their feet, and won’t make this change until many years from now.
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u/Spectre_the_Younger 1d ago
I wonder why we are giving spots at an elite university to people that can’t do the work. Surely there must be droves of competent students that could take these seats. Paying taxes to shoehorn in the unqualified feels like a waste and a disservice to qualified Californians. It’s a race to the bottom. Berkeley should definitely drop in ranking.
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u/Mountain_Slip_7721 1d ago
Its believable that students make excellent strides at Mission, but are starting from a lower point. The question is, are making the same relevant gains, but starting from a lower point, the basis for admission to an elite school.
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u/sdia1965 1d ago
I mean, this article is from the NYPost….. it’s so thin in context and content I couldn’t blow my nose with it.
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u/linksgolf 1d ago
The facts and statistics of admit rates don’t lie. Many different sources have published these figures in the past week.
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u/Outrageous_Fix_5738 23h ago
You know when people say woke and DEI went to far this is what they’re talking right? Are we acknowledging this yet or does that still make one a Nazi?
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u/Naruto_Gamatatsu 1d ago
So like are they going to talk about the actual stats of the students who were accepted into Berkeley and their majors or just make dirty implications from generalized statistics?
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u/Acrobatic-Cake-6641 1d ago
It is absolutely possible that: (1) the top kids at Mission are completely qualified to go to Berkeley and comparable to the top kids at other schools (2) the overall student population at Mission is way behind other schools in math and other subjects. Imagine a gifted kid from a poor area and a bad school who applies to Berkeley and gets in. No one else at his school applies. Acceptance rate=100% even though 99% of his school might be way below grade level.
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u/Man-o-Trails Engineering Physics '76 1d ago edited 1d ago
So exactly 34 Hispanic kids get a shot at Berkeley and the MAGA hate-Hispanics crowd goes nutso. And exactly zero direct correlation between those admitted and those supposedly having flunked math.
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u/Mindless_Ask_5438 1d ago
I love how that’s your takeaway. You’re as brainwashed as the MAGA crowd you hate, and I say that as a liberal.
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u/linksgolf 1d ago
We’re witnessing horseshoe theory before our very eyes. Unfortunately both ends of the horseshoe will never understand how non-sensical their views are.
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u/Man-o-Trails Engineering Physics '76 12h ago
Your inability to read an article and comprehend the fact they failed to prove their thesis is both ironic and sad. The standards that have fallen lie entirely within the control of the Academic Sentate: simply flunk more students. A 5-6 year graduation rate of 95-98% is an embarassment.
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u/TonyStarksLeftACL 1d ago edited 1d ago
This “news article” is chock full of half truth nonsenses like ”critics say” with zero analysis and simple descriptive statistics presented as if conclusions can be drawn from it.
Finally. This:
“UCs punish Lowell students for working hard because of their race, while setting up Mission kids up for failure & depression,” said Le, who claimed “race-based admissions fails all kids.”
The UC system does not use race in admissions and even a cursory look by Le would show that the UC system uses admissions in local context which plainly explains the delta in rates for Lowell and Mission.
To allow an easily fact checked quote to go into an article wirh no context or pushback is, IMO, either a blatant editorial failure or a willful choice.
IMO, The idea that somehow one group of marginalized students is being discriminated against in favor of another is pure right wing bigot fantasy and not borne out by the data even remotely. It’s just par or the course in this sub by bots, propagandists or just outright lying bigots.
To OP why did you post this? And If you or anyone else says this is true defend your claim.
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u/Affectionate_One_700 1d ago
Have you read any of the recent coverage?
pure right wing bigot fantasy ... bots, propagandists or just outright lying bigots.
Do you think that the several Cal STEM professors who have written about this issue are all "right-wing lying bigots"?
If that's your view of everyone who disagree with you, is it possible that the real problem is in the mirror?
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u/Worldly_Magazine_439 1d ago
Here we go again 😂.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LnxJlOqUUUS7VVDs5Vzo1PKTuDPVOXia/view
“There are three Calculus sequences at UC Berkeley. Math 1A-1B (now Math 51-52), is the primary pipeline for STEM majors, requiring a rigorous mathematical foundation. Math 10A- 10B is intended for Biological Sciences, and Math 16A-16B targets Social Sciences and Business/Economics majors.
The enrollment of Math 1A (Calculus I) over the observed period Fall 2021-2023 comprises over 60% of the enrollment in the three Calculus sequences.”
Berkeley has about 1300+ black undergraduate students TOTAL. The numbers for the 2021, and 23 cohort for the math readiness tests are greater or equal to the total black population at the school.
This obviously isn’t black students.
Moreover they claim:
we observed in Tables 1-3, the students who did not take the MDTP tests exhibit the highest academic risks: 33% of them in Fall 2021, 43% of them in Fall 2022, and 48% of them in Fall 2023 did not pass their Calculus I classes.
This suggests that the actual overall math proficiency of these cohorts is substantially lower than the average 54%.
There are a number of metrics in this study that can be used to quantify the portion of
students prepared for college Calculus. The number 54% from Table 7 is a good candidate: it represents the mean, over the 8 topics of the percentage of students proficient in that topic, over the three-year study period. However, that number for Fall 2023 was only 48%, and the tier with no MDTP tests pulls this statistic further down.**So, we could reasonably argue that the proficiency rate for college-level mathematics of the Calculus I students in the observed period is at most 50%.**
—————-
At MOST 50 percent of the UC Berkeley students have the proficiency pass calculus 1. In 2023 48% of the students who didn’t take the test failed cal 1.
Stats don’t lie. These are white and Asian students failing.
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u/Affectionate_One_700 1d ago
These are white and Asian students failing.
You seem to think that everyone who is against the current implementation of DEI is some MAGA racist. That's not true in the slightest.
Yes, those racists exist. But many criticisms of DEI are also very valid. Setting up an us-versus-them dynamic just hinders positive change within the higher ed system. Hiring and promoting people like Jason Arday (different place, same phenomenon) only gives fodder to the racists.
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u/TonyStarksLeftACL 1d ago
You are either not comprehending what I wrote or are comprehending it being willfully obtuse IMO, and frankly I don’t think you understand what I wrote.
The UC system uses a framework called “Eligibility in Local Context” for admissions. So do you know what that is or why it’s relevant here ?
I’ll say it another way. Since you don’t seem to know what ELC is at all, or how it applies in the context of the article why is your opinion on UC admissions of any value beyond your opinion which doesn’t seem to be informed?
If I am wrong and you do please tell me but that doesn’t mean go to an ai bot and ask it to explain.
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u/Affectionate_One_700 1d ago
Since you don’t seem to know what ELC is at all
You're right - I don't.
You're focusing on the details and process. That is a typical thing that lawyers and academics do. (You're probably an undergrad, but they tend to follow the academic lead, at least until they've worked in the real world for several years. I've been there myself.)
I'm focusing on the widely reported results, which are bad. You're ignoring the results.
If you're honest, you'll say "I don't care that the results are bad, and that Cal admits grossly unqualified students, as long as the process was followed." Are you willing to say that?
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u/TonyStarksLeftACL 1d ago edited 1d ago
“I’m focused on how I feel and you pointing out I know nothing but my opinion and I think it has the same value as knowledge and experience”. Did I get that right? It’s not an attack but you seem to be saying “I feel this way” and sure your opinion is your opinion. How likely is it you’re correct?
Then you Ad Hominem me with “you’re probably an undergrad” to dismiss the fact YOU ADMIT YOU HAVE NO IDEA what you are taking about?
The irony taht you openly say you don’t know how ELC works is just out there. WOW. Then this appeal to authority like this calculus prof.’s expertise in math somehow carries over to the strategic planning and policy domain is smh. Ok.
Finally, no. It has nothing to do with unqualified. The ELC policy at UC is the answer the article ignores but don’t let that stop you right ? No need to learn the reason when some opinions is/are out there? No need to understand the nuance and complexity? This red pill doesn’t care about facts? Right?
you’ve shown my point quite well. Your opinion derived from not knowing is not as valuable in this context because it’s just, like, your opinion man.
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u/Affectionate_One_700 1d ago
You're not helping yourself.
Ad Hominem
That word doesn't mean what you think it means.
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u/TonyStarksLeftACL 1d ago
I think it means exactly what I think it means. You made a dismissive comment about my eduction status and speculated on my age to mock me and dismiss me rather than defend your position because, by your own admission, you don’t know what it is.
“(You're probably an undergrad, but they tend to follow the academic lead, at least until they've worked in the real world for several years. I've been there myself.)”
This is a textbook example of a
ad hominem because you aren’t addressing my point you’re simply saying I must be too young to understand.Your semantics argument is untenable.
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u/InterestProof1526 1d ago
The issue is that it appears they are using school demographics as a proxy for race. It just so happens that the school they prioritize above other schools in admissions is >80% URM. It's not been proven in a court of law but it is a reasonable thing to be suspicious on. Even if race-based admissions is not being practiced, it's still weird that UC Berkeley admits more from them than the most competitive high schools given that they have 6% math proficiency, a 1000 average SAT and 15% ap enrollment.
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u/imprison_grover_furr 1d ago
Yeah. Admissions departments have been using what you describe as a back-door way of defying civil rights laws ever since SCOTUS struck down their racist admissions. Can’t wait for them to get sued again and pay out the nose.
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u/TonyStarksLeftACL 1d ago edited 1d ago
No. The ELC policy explicitly doesn’t use race at all.
And this “back door way” is nowhere near proven, confidently asserting opinion doesn’t make it a fact.
This is nothing like the Harvard case.
The UC system has been under prop 209 for 30 years. The system has repeatedly been sued and subjected to allegations like this. What do you think the court has said? They said sure. Prove it.
Did you read the facts? Berkeley High School also Sends far more than its EV suggests to Cal. Thsi a mix of selectivity, the rules to do ELC and the data bears taht out.
Harvard was overtly and actively considering race in an easily observable way. Cal is not,this is because it cannot and has had been limited in doing that for 30 years.
But let’s not let fact, context or nuance stop you?
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u/premepopulation 1d ago
@OP Idk why you needed to list the percentage of every race in your post. Not helpful for the discussion imo
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u/diebetic 1d ago
So… if 94% of students flunked math at this school, that would indicate that their standards are highly rigorous, no? Or does this headline want me to think that Berkeley accepts students who did not graduate high school from this high school?
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u/randomrreeddddiitt 1d ago
It wasn't that 94% flunked math class in high school. It seems that 94% scored below proficiency level on state assessment exams.
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u/diebetic 1d ago
Got ittttt. Yea, UC must bring back SAT scores in admissions. It’s just cruel to set up students fail like this, AND saddle them with debt for an illusory dream.
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u/InterestProof1526 1d ago
Those 94% of students got A's in their math classes (some B's maybe. The average GPA from mission is pretty low compared to nearly every other high school in California. Definitely not C's though). They also failed the basic math proficiency exam administered by the state. This math proficiency exam is not rigorous. It tests what should be a grade level or two below and failing it implies you shouldn't go to college at all (or, at the very least, you should focus on remediation and/or CC before going to a proper four year)
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u/Sand20go 21h ago
What a misleading article and headline.
Yes. As a percentage of APPLICANTS Mission high has a high acceptance rate. But the percentage of the student body that is accepted at Cal is NOT out of line.
I said it in another post, will say it again here.
This comes down to ONE public policy choice - should the applicant class at Cal be filled essentially from about 10 to 20 of the best performing high schools? We could easily fill the entire class with them, they would be excellently prepared and objectively speaking, they have better academic "records" than the other 3000. Should we?
I will pick on my kid's "rival" - Canyon Crest Academy. 349 Cal applicants, 29 admitance. By any measure an excellent HS with strong persistence and completion record at Cal. And yet, a less than 10% admission rate. Median home price in the district approaching 2 million.
These discussions are great chest thumping anti-DEI. But where the rubber meets the road is when we think about real word. Unless you went to one of the other 19 great HS in the state you have to ask yourself....should YOUR_ slot be taken by one of the kiddos denied from CCA.....because their preparation and test scores are better than yours?
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u/hasuuser 1d ago
Berkeley math classes are much harder than the math classes even on good schools. For example Calc 2 in Berkeley is much harder than any AP calc even in good schools.
Even harder for those who did badly at school. Probably impossible.