If you go to Monta Vista, you already know. Or you’ve heard it from someone who does.

It’s one of the most academically intense public high schools in California. The kind of place where a 4.0 GPA doesn’t guarantee you’re in the top 10%. Where it seems like everyone’s taking Calc BC or doing Olympiad prep.

It’s also ranked highly. 

Monta Vista High School Ranking

On Niche, Monta Vista is:

• #8 Best College Prep Public High School in San Francisco Bay Area
  
  
• #31 Best High Schools for STEM in California
  
  
• #26 Best College Prep Public High Schools
  
  
• #103 Best Public High Schools in California overall

But here’s the real question we get from families all the time: Does going to Monta Vista help or hurt my kid’s college chances?

Monta Vista High School Profile

Before we answer that question, we need to talk about the school profile, which lays out demographic, academic, and extracurricular information about a school to help admissions officers understand the context.

Here’s what admissions officers see when they open a file from Monta Vista (take a look at the 2024-2025 school profile). It shows:

• No class rank
  
  
• GPA distribution chart showing 50% of students above a 3.75 GPA
  
  
• A mountain of AP classes offered (26 total)
  
  

So if you have a 3.9 weighted GPA from Monta Vista, it’s not necessarily the same as a 3.9 from a school with fewer APs or a smaller percentage of students with a 4.0. 

Because AOs don’t read you against the national pool. They read you against your school group—your classmates who are applying to the same school that year. 

The reality of being a strong student at Monta Vista

Here’s the good news: Monta Vista kids do get into top schools.

But the bar is higher than people think. And the admit rates are lower than they used to be.

You’ll need more than just a high GPA and a good test score, especially because most applicants from Monta Vista will have those. What actually moves the needle is:

• Taking the most rigorous courses offered (especially in your area of interest)
  
  
• Having ECs that show depth, leadership, or impact (ideally all three)
  
  
• Writing application essays that bring your story into focus and help you stand out from your school group

What we tell Monta Vista families

We work with a lot of students at MVHS and other FUHSD schools. The advice we give is pretty consistent:

1. Take all the rigor you can reasonably handle.
   
   
2. Build a balanced list. Your list should have safeties you’d actually go to and enjoy.
   
   
3. Your application should have a clear point of view. At MVHS, AOs are reading a stack of applicants who all took AP Calc BC. So what’s different about you?

Also, don’t underestimate how important your application narrative is. If you’re feeling behind because your friends are already doing internships or building robots or applying to Stanford, you're not alone. But don't let that pressure rush your process.

Last thing

Going to a high-ranking school like Monta Vista does help you in some ways. It gives you access to great teachers, strong peers, and lots of opportunities.

But it also makes the college process more convoluted. Because when everyone’s impressive, the bar just gets higher, and it’s not as simple as earning good grades or taking the hardest classes.

So if you’re applying from Monta Vista this fall, or if you’re a sophomore wondering if you’re doing “enough,” take a deep breath. You don’t have to outdo everyone. You just have to make sure your app shows who you are in this context.

If you want to chat about what that looks like for you, book a free intro call with Ben, our Consulting Director and a former Vanderbilt AO.