ELC is a consideration in the UC application review but I have known non-ELC applicants that have gotten UC acceptances. As stated in the above post by @ucbalumnus it only guarantees that if you are not accepted into your choice UC, then the default campus UC Merced will offer you a spot if space is available.
ELC is based on the students UC weighted-capped GPA meeting a top 9% benchmark UC weighted-capped GPA set by a recent previous class. It is not based on any notion of current class rank calculated by the high school (using whatever GPA the high school uses for that purpose).
Confused about this 9% ELC – my son was told by UC (it’s on his portal, and he received a congrats from UC) that he’s top 9% statewide, but I’ve read here that due to not including other testing, statewide isn’t a thing? So does he still have top 9% status to the UC’s he’s applied to? And, guaranteed admission… somewhere.
From the ELC website "ELC and Statewide Eligibility and Admissions
Eligibility in the Statewide Context and Eligibility in the Local Context are the two main paths to freshman eligibility. California high school students who attain eligibility in the statewide context or eligibility in the local context are both guaranteed a space at the University of California, though not ...
To be designated as ELC, a student must have attended an eligible, participating California high school, satisfactorily completed a specific pattern of 11 UC-approved courses prior to the start of senior year, and have a UC-calculated GPA that meets or exceeds the top 9 percent GPA benchmark established by UC for their school. To maintain the ELC status, the student must satisfy the general ...