Lick-Wilmerding High School

What makes this school special

Technical Arts shops where every student spends two required years building furniture, working metal, and making robots
Draws students from across the Bay Area, 75 zip codes and four counties in all
A play-everyone athletics culture — 30 teams across 10 sports, no cuts at the frosh level, and more than 75% of students play
Service is a graduation requirement through the Public Purpose Program, the substance behind Lick's "private school with a public purpose" philosophy
Lick typically does not use the common essays (be prepared for extra work if you decide to apply)

Academics

Curriculum

In-house honors and seminar courses; no APs

Do APs matter?

World languages

Spanish, French, Mandarin

Schedule

Semester

Signature programs

Technical Arts shops (two years required)
Public Purpose Program (service learning)
Nonprofit internships

College matriculation

UC Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford, Brown, Cornell, Yale, University of Chicago, Northwestern, Pomona, NYU, USC, WashU in St. Louis, University of Michigan, Cal Poly SLO, Northeastern

See the full list

UC admissions

In fall 2025, 117 students applied to the UC system from this school; 79 were admitted to at least one campus, and 23 enrolled.

See UC’s data

What these numbers can and can’t tell you

Athletics, arts & activities

Athletics · Bay Area Conference — BCL West

BadmintonBaseball (boys)BasketballCross CountryField Hockey (girls)Flag FootballLacrosseSoccerSoftball (girls)SwimmingTennisTrack & FieldVolleyballWater Polo

Arts

Visual ArtPhotographyFilmArchitectureTheaterDanceInstrumental MusicChoral MusicMusic Production

Clubs & activities

Amnesty InternationalGirls in MathApplied ScienceAsian Students in AllianceAstronomyBlack Student UnionBlacksmithingCombat RoboticsDECAEngineering & DesignFEM in STEMModel United NationsMock TrialRoboticsGirls in TechEnvironmental Club

See all clubs

Life there

Tuition includes

Lunch
Books
Course materials
Yearbooks
Co-curricular activities
Class retreats

Food

Lunch included in tuition

Learning support

Learning Strategies Center — accommodations for learning differences

Notable alumni

Frederick Seitz (physicist)
Benjamin Wildman-Tobriner (Olympic swimmer)
Rafael Mandelman (SF Supervisor)
mxmtoon (musician)

Applying

Key dates

Applications open: August 26, 2026
Application due: January 5, 2027
Decisions released: March 12, 2027
Enrollment contract due: March 19, 2027

The application

Lick-Wilmerding is test-free and admits on its own application via Ravenna, the shared application platform, due in early January.

Application requirements

Application via Ravenna ($100 fee, waivers available)
Transcripts (7th–8th grade)
Three recommendations (counselor, English teacher, math teacher)
Student statement
“Cub Conversation” — an informal conversation with a faculty or staff member, paired with one other applicant

Testing

Test-free

Sources

LWHS About — enrollment, class size, student-teacher ratio, diversity, motto ("head, heart, hands")
LWHS Affording — tuition, flexible tuition, lunch
LWHS Applying — requirements, deadlines, test-free policy
LWHS School Profile — no APs, world languages, schedule, graduation requirements, college matriculation
Public Purpose Program — signature program
Athletics Teams — sports
Course Catalog — arts
Student Clubs — clubs
Learning Strategies Center — learning support
Lick-Wilmerding | Wikipedia — notable alumni
Athletics — participation rate, no-cut frosh policy, team count
FAQ & Contact — flexible-tuition share (~33% of families)
Bay Area Conference — conference structure and division membership

Details checked August 2026

Lick-Wilmerding