Find Colleges for Your GPA

Find target, reach, and safety schools based on your GPA, with acceptance rates and test score data for thousands of colleges.

Where your 4.2 fits: Safety, Target or Reach, from each college's reported average GPA and acceptance rate. A guide, not a prediction.

Colleges in CaliforniaEvery college we list in California, with its average GPA and test scores where it reports them.

Showing 30 of 286 colleges
Colleges that report an average GPA (18) · best fit first
California Polytechnic State University San Luis ObispoSan Luis Obispo, California Public, 4-yearModerate to get into,31% admitted
Average GPA4.03Weighted, as reported by the college for 2025⁠–⁠26
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Your 4.2their average 4.03Target
California State University FullertonFullerton, California Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,91% admitted
Average GPA3.43As reported by the college for 2024⁠–⁠25
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.43Safety
California State University NorthridgeNorthridge, California Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,93% admitted
Average GPA3.33As reported by the college for 2024⁠–⁠25
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.33Safety
California State University SacramentoSacramento, California Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,94% admitted
Average GPA3.38As reported by the college for 2025⁠–⁠26
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.38Safety
University of California RiversideRiverside, California Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,76% admitted
Average GPA3.75As reported by the college for 2025⁠–⁠26
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.75Safety
California State University San BernardinoSan Bernardino, California Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,94% admitted
Average GPA3.39As reported by the college for 2025⁠–⁠26
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.39Safety
California State University San MarcosSan Marcos, California Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,95% admitted
Average GPA3.32As reported by the college for 2025⁠–⁠26
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.32Safety
California State University ChicoChico, California Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,93% admitted
Average GPA3.40As reported by the college for 2025⁠–⁠26
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.40Safety
University of San DiegoSan Diego, California Private nonprofit, 4-yearFairly easy to get into,52% admitted
Average GPA4.02Weighted, as reported by the college for 2024⁠–⁠25
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Your 4.2their average 4.02Safety
California Lutheran UniversityThousand Oaks, California Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,76% admitted
Average GPA3.74As reported by the college for 2024⁠–⁠25
SAT, middle 50%590–670 R&W560–660 Math
ACT, middle 50%24–31
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.74Safety
Westmont CollegeSanta Barbara, California Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,77% admitted
Average GPA3.64As reported by the college for 2024⁠–⁠25
SAT, middle 50%630–750 R&W610–700 Math
ACT, middle 50%25–32
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.64Safety
Otis College of Art and DesignLos Angeles, California Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,82% admitted
Average GPA3.28As reported by the college for 2024⁠–⁠25
SAT, middle 50%665–720 R&W600–675 Math
ACT, middle 50%–
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.28Safety
Dominican University of CaliforniaSan Rafael, California Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,84% admitted
Average GPA3.65As reported by the college for 2024⁠–⁠25
SAT, middle 50%620–660 R&W590–640 Math
ACT, middle 50%–
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.65Safety
University of California Los AngelesLos Angeles, California Public, 4-yearVery hard to get into,9% admitted
Average GPA3.94As reported by the college for 2025⁠–⁠26
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.94Reach
University of Southern CaliforniaLos Angeles, California Private nonprofit, 4-yearVery hard to get into,9.8% admitted
Average GPA3.85As reported by the college for 2025⁠–⁠26
SAT, middle 50%710–760 R&W740–790 Math
ACT, middle 50%32–35
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.85Reach
Stanford UniversityStanford, California Private nonprofit, 4-yearVery hard to get into,3.6% admitted
Average GPA3.94As reported by the college for 2025⁠–⁠26
SAT, middle 50%740–780 R&W770–800 Math
ACT, middle 50%34–35
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.94Reach
San Diego State UniversitySan Diego, California Public, 4-yearModerate to get into,36% admitted
Average GPA3.82As reported by the college for 2025⁠–⁠26
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.82not comparable with a weighted GPA
University of California San DiegoLa Jolla, California Public, 4-yearModerate to get into,27% admitted
Average GPA3.88As reported by the college for 2025⁠–⁠26
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Your 4.2their 4.0-scale average 3.88not comparable with a weighted GPA
More colleges in your filters (no GPA reported)
California State University Long BeachLong Beach, California Public, 4-yearModerate to get into,46% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
University of California BerkeleyBerkeley, California Public, 4-yearHard to get into,11% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
University of California DavisDavis, California Public, 4-yearModerate to get into,42% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
University of California IrvineIrvine, California Public, 4-yearModerate to get into,29% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
San Jose State UniversitySan Jose, California Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,85% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
California State Polytechnic University PomonaPomona, California Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,75% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
University of California Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, California Public, 4-yearModerate to get into,33% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
California State University FresnoFresno, California Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,95% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
California State University Los AngelesLos Angeles, California Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,91% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
San Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco, California Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,96% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
University of California Santa CruzSanta Cruz, California Public, 4-yearFairly easy to get into,66% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
California State University Dominguez HillsCarson, California Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,93% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Browse by GPA 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3
Browse by state Alabama 59 Alaska 7 Arizona 40 Arkansas 47 California 286 Colorado 42 Connecticut 28 Delaware 5 Washington, D.C. 11 Florida 100 Georgia 89 Hawaii 14 Idaho 13 Illinois 117 Indiana 50 Iowa 52 Kansas 53 Kentucky 50 Louisiana 48 Maine 26 Maryland 45 Massachusetts 92 Michigan 77 Minnesota 69 Mississippi 33 Missouri 76 Montana 23 Nebraska 32 Nevada 10 New Hampshire 21 New Jersey 59 New Mexico 29 New York 223 North Carolina 122 North Dakota 19 Ohio 139 Oklahoma 41 Oregon 41 Pennsylvania 160 Rhode Island 12 South Carolina 55 South Dakota 19 Tennessee 66 Texas 164 Utah 18 Vermont 10 Virginia 82 Washington 62 West Virginia 32 Wisconsin 55 Wyoming 8 Northern Mariana Islands 1

How to read the figures

Example: how a college appears in the list
University of MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan Public, 4-yearHard to get into,16% admitted
Average GPA3.90As reported by the college for 2025⁠–⁠26
SAT, middle 50%680–750 R&W680–780 Math
ACT, middle 50%31–34
  • How hard it is to get in: the share of first-year applicants the college admitted for fall 2024. Very hard is under 10%, Hard 10–24%, Moderate 25–49%, Fairly easy 50–74% and Easy 75% or more. Open admission colleges accept everyone, so they have no rate.
  • Average GPA: the average high school GPA of the college's first-year students, from the college's own yearly report (its Common Data Set), with the year and, when the college says, whether it's weighted. Colleges calculate GPA in different ways, so use it as a rough guide, not a cutoff.
  • Safety, Target and Reach: with your GPA in the box, where it fits at each college that reports an average GPA. Your GPA is compared with the college's average (0.15 or more above it, close to it, or below it), and the acceptance rate decides how much that counts: a college that admits under 15% of applicants is a reach for everyone. Colleges that don't report an average get no label: we never estimate one.
  • SAT: the middle 50% of scores of first-year students who sent them, for reading and writing (R&W) and math. A quarter scored below the range and a quarter above it.
  • ACT: the middle 50% of overall ACT scores, read the same way.

A dash means the college didn't report that figure.

Where the data comes from

FigureSourceData year
Acceptance rate, SAT and ACT rangesThe U.S. Department of Education's yearly college surveyFall 2024
Average high school GPA (268 colleges)Each college's own yearly report (Common Data Set)2023–24 to 2025–26
Average SAT for the SAT filter and sortCollege Scorecard, U.S. Department of EducationLatest available

Each college's page also has its enrollment, net price, admission factors and policies on AP and dual credit from the same survey, and gives the year of every figure. Admission policies change every year, so check anything important with the college's admissions office.

Sources

Reviewed by the GPA Calculator team · Updated October 2026

  1. IPEDS: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data SystemU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
  2. College Scorecard dataU.S. Department of Education (June 10, 2026 release)
  3. Common Data Set InitiativeThe standard format colleges use to publish their own admissions data