PCA Selection Criteria

1. Candidates must be in the 10th grade at a participating high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
   
2. Candidates should demonstrate strong academic achievement, leadership potential, and community involvement despite adverse socioeconomic circumstances.
   
3. Candidates should show evidence of ability to participate in extensive peer counseling activities and mentoring programs in their high schools that will inspire fellow students to greater achievements. 
   
4. Candidates must be excellent role models for younger students. Pre-collegiate Academy Scholars have the responsibility of being ambassadors of higher education. Candidates must be committed to encouraging and assisting other high school students in pursuing higher education.
   
5. Candidates must be on track to fulfill UC admission requirements with a current, cumulative GPA of 3.5 or greater, with no grade below a “C”.
   
6. Candidates must be prepared to apply for admission to a four-year college in the fall of their senior year of high school, including UC Berkeley.
   
7. Candidates must demonstrate significant financial need as determined by the financial aid portion of the application.
   
8. Candidates must be nominated by their high school and generally should have been in attendance at the high school from the beginning of their freshman year, though extenuating circumstances may be considered.
   
9. Candidates must be U.S. citizens or eligible non-citizens. Generally, eligible non-citizens are: (1) U.S. permanent residents and have an Alien Registration Receipt Card (I-551); (2) conditional permanent residents (I-551C); or (3) other eligible non-citizens with an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service showing any one of the following designations: “Refugee,” “Asylum Granted,” “Indefinite Parole,” “Humanitarian Parole,” or “Cuban-Haitian Entrant.”