Many students are surprised to learn that to be considered for freshman admission to a California public college you will need to meet your high school graduation requirements and the California colleges’ curriculum-based admission requirements. For UC schools, such as Berkeley and UCLA, this means that students must take at least one full year of visual or performing arts in the same area. Applicants from outside of California are not exempt from this requirement.
The requirements are called the “A to G subject requirements” and are usually referred to as A–G. Students are required to earn at least a “C” in each A–G class.
The California UC A-G Course List website is an excellent reference tool to see which courses at a particular California high school are approved for the A-G requirements. Sometimes non-California students, planning to apply to UC schools enter the names of some California high schools to get a sense of the types of courses that are A-G approved. Double-checking by contacting Admissions at the UC(s) of potential interest is generally the best way to confirm whether or not specific out-of-state coursework meets their requirements.
These sites are helpful for identifying approved A–G courses:
