The Bay Area admissions checklist.

What matters in each grade, 9 through 12, for families applying to the UCs, the Ivies and everything between. One page per grade. No signup.

Grade 9 · The Setup

Build the foundation.

Map four years of courses. UC requires 15 A-G courses, and 11 of them must be finished before senior year. Earn a C or better in every one.
Grades count now. UC's GPA starts the summer after 9th grade, but private colleges see the whole transcript, and every A-G course needs a C or better.
Try things, then choose two or three to go deep on. Depth over a long list.
Register for the Congressional Award if your student is 13½ or older. Only activities logged after registration count, so start early.
Start a service log with dates, hours, what the work was, and a contact who can confirm it.
Plan a real summer: a course, a job, a project, or a program with substance.

Grade 10 · The Build

The UC GPA window opens. It runs from the summer after 9th grade through the summer after 11th. UC adds honors points for up to 8 semesters of approved honors or AP courses, no more than 4 of them from 10th grade.
Set a testing baseline with the PSAT or a practice test, and decide between the SAT and ACT.
Take a first leadership step in an activity your student already cares about.
Congressional Award Bronze: 100 hours of service, 50 of personal development, 50 of fitness, and a two-day expedition, over at least 7 months. Gold takes at least 24 months, so start by the fall of 10th grade if your student wants it before applying.
Plan the summer: research, an internship, a job, or a serious program.

Grade 11 · The Boss Year

Take the hardest schedule your student can do well in. Junior grades carry the most weight.
PSAT/NMSQT in October. National Merit qualification uses the 11th grade test.
Plan for two rulebooks. UC is test blind for fall 2027 applicants, but most Ivy League and many selective private colleges require SAT or ACT scores again. Finish testing by the end of junior year or the summer after.
Build a college list of reach, target and likely schools, including the UCs your student would actually attend.
Ask two teachers for recommendations in the spring.
Summer before senior year: draft the Common App essay and outline the UC Personal Insight Questions.

Grade 12 · The Finals

August 1: the UC application and the Common App open.
Early deadlines are usually November 1 or November 15. Check each college.
UC filing period: October 1 to November 30 for fall 2027. Students answer 4 of 8 Personal Insight Questions, up to 350 words each, and self-report every A-G grade exactly as on the transcript.
The essays must be your student's own. Colleges including Yale treat submitting AI-generated content as application fraud. Grammar checks and feedback are fine; ghostwriting is not.
March 2: deadline for the FAFSA, the California Dream Act Application and the Cal Grant GPA Verification Form.
March 1 to 31: UC decisions. Most colleges ask for a commitment by May 1.

Sources, checked September 2026

Rules change. Confirm dates and policies with each college before you rely on them.

Where does your student stand?

On a 20-minute fit call we will look at your student's grade and courses and point out the one or two items on this list that matter most right now.