<p>Can I expect to go any of the universities on the top 25?
The school I attend is extremely rigorous, but due to the great affluence in the area, most of these kids are under some kind of tutoring. This results in an extremely high number of students with really solid GPAs. The average SAT score seems to sit around 2100.
I know many schools look at the context of the applicant's school and thus look at the 10% within that school, so do I stand a chance anywhere?
The only advantage I can see is the rigor of my schedule. I've taken advantage of all chances for me to take honors and most to take APs, but because I am an A- student, my GPA is nowhere near the top.
Also, my SAT is a little higher than the average, but not by much. I'll be retaking in November for the first time to try and raise it to the upper 2300s.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, your high school should have a profile with average standardized test scores, graduation rates, etc. that adcoms will see. Yours should be good. They will know your school and thus will look much further into its student body than the top 10% or so.</p>
<p>The person who best knows the answer to your question is the person who does college advising and placement in your high school. He or she has college-placement data specific to your school that goes back several years.</p>
<p>Has your school historically sent about 30% of its graduating class to the kind of highly selective schools you’re targeting? If so, then you’re probably in contention. If the fraction of recent graduates who’ve enrolled at highly selective colleges and universities is much less than 30%, then you may need to look for some safer alternatives. But, once again, the person who knows this information best is the person who does college advising and placement in your high school.</p>
<p>The problem with asking your question here, IMO, is that the claim “My high school is extremely competitive” is just about meaningless on College Confidential. I’m not saying that yours isn’t. I’m just saying that if went go by what you read on this message board, you’d conclude that about 20% of the high schools in the country are ranked in the top 100 nationally. That just seems, let us say, mathematically improbable.</p>
<p>The year before, my high school was ranked in the top 100 of some list if that makes a difference.
The thing is, I’m looking at my naviance and the admitted averages are extremely high. My counselor thinks I have a good shot at many of the schools I’m applying to, but my Naviance tells me otherwise. I’m not sure who to believe.</p>
<p>Where does your GPA and SAT score lie in naviance for the school’s you’re interested? Are you in the middle of the green dots or on the lower end or completely outside of it?</p>
<p>It seems that I’m just below.
My SAT is above the average, but my GPA is just below the average by .1.
One thing to note, the class preceding mine was one of the most academically successful classes at our school, so the scores are a little higher than average.
Also, a lot of the other students with higher GPAs took less rigorous courses than I did. How would an admissions officer compare a straight A student with maybe 4-6 AP/Honor classes vs a student with an A- average, but 10 AP/Honor classes?</p>