Where Do Harvard-Westlake Graduates Go to College?
Harvard-Westlake publishes its complete college list with five-year totals on its HW at a Glance page, a transparency practice most elite day schools abandoned. Based on multi-year aggregates via FindingSchool, approximately 18.7 percent of graduates enroll at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, or MIT, 29.4 percent at other top-25 national universities, and 21.5 percent in the top-26-to-50 band. Taken together, Harvard-Westlake matriculation puts nearly seven in ten graduates at a top-50 national university, from a class of roughly 280 across its Studio City and Holmby Hills campuses.
| College tier | Share of Harvard-Westlake graduates |
|---|---|
| Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT | 18.7% |
| Top-25 national universities (beyond HYPSM) | 29.4% |
| Top-26 to top-50 national universities | 21.5% |
Multi-year aggregates from Harvard-Westlake’s published matriculation lists via FindingSchool; tiers per the 2024 U.S. News National Universities ranking.
Which Colleges Enroll the Most Harvard-Westlake Graduates?
Volume tells a distinctly Los Angeles story. Across recent five-year windows, NYU has led all destinations with more than 90 matriculants, followed by USC with about 70, Washington University in St. Louis near 60, and the University of Chicago and Michigan in the low 50s, with Cornell, Brown, and Georgetown forming the largest Ivy cohorts. The NYU and USC concentration reflects the school’s entertainment-industry families and the strength of both universities’ film, business, and performing arts programs; the elite tier above it reflects a college counseling operation placing nearly one in five graduates at HYPSM in the same classes.
How Does Harvard-Westlake Compare to East Coast Feeder Schools?
On the HYPSM measure, Harvard-Westlake matriculation at 18.7 percent sits between Hotchkiss at 18.6 percent and St. Paul’s at 19.0 percent, ahead of Choate, Lawrenceville, Milton, and Andover, and behind only Groton and Deerfield among the schools in our national dataset. On the top-25 tier it stands alone: 29.4 percent beyond HYPSM exceeds Andover’s 27.5 percent, the previous national leader. For West Coast families, the practical meaning is that the strongest East Coast boarding outcomes are available as a Los Angeles day school, without boarding. The complete national comparison, with verified tier data for every major school, sits in our guide to the best feeder schools to the Ivy League.
What Should Harvard-Westlake Families Take From These Numbers?
Three implications follow from the Harvard-Westlake matriculation data. First, internal competition is the tax on the outcome: a class of 280 in which nearly 140 will enroll top-25 means dozens of classmates apply to every elite university each cycle, and admission offices calibrate accordingly, so differentiation beyond the shared rigor, a distinctive project, a recruited talent, an unusual academic thread, decides close cases. Second, the NYU and USC pipelines are strategic assets, not consolation prizes: for students in film, media, and business, those programs outperform several Ivies on career outcomes, and the school’s density there compounds the advantage. Third, the published five-year list rewards families who read it closely when building school lists, because per-college volume signals where the counseling relationships and admit patterns actually run. Families comparing day school paths can pair this analysis with our private school interview preparation guide and our Class of 2030 feeder school results.
Frequently Asked Questions About Harvard-Westlake Matriculation
Approximately 18.7 percent of graduates enroll at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, or MIT, and nearly half of each class of roughly 280 enrolls at a top-25 national university, based on multi-year aggregates of the school’s published lists.
By volume across recent five-year windows, NYU leads with more than 90 matriculants, followed by USC near 70, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Chicago, and Michigan, with Cornell, Brown, and Georgetown as the largest Ivy cohorts.
On published matriculation data, yes. Its 18.7 percent HYPSM share and 29.4 percent additional top-25 share exceed every other West Coast school in our dataset and rival the strongest New England boarding schools.
Yes. The HW at a Glance page publishes the full list of Class of 2025 destinations along with five-year totals, a level of transparency most elite day schools no longer offer.
Groton leads the nation at 21.9 percent HYPSM and Exeter sits at 19.1 percent; Harvard-Westlake’s 18.7 percent is directly in that company, achieved as a Los Angeles day school. Its 29.4 percent additional top-25 share is the highest in our national dataset.
Entertainment-industry family ties and program strength. NYU and USC lead nationally in film, media, and related business programs, so for a large share of the class those schools are first choices rather than fallbacks.
Roughly 280 seniors, drawn from a grade 7 to 12 enrollment near 1,600 across the Holmby Hills middle school and Studio City upper school campuses.
Peer competition. Dozens of classmates apply to every elite university each cycle, so admission offices read files in deep context, and students who differentiate beyond the shared curriculum, through research, recruited talent, or a distinctive academic thread, win the close calls.
Sources: Harvard-Westlake: HW at a Glance (matriculation list), FindingSchool: Harvard-Westlake School, National Association of Independent Schools.
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