This question is a follow up to the discussion in the “Accepted Princeton ED” thread. Is the High School you attended a significant factor in the admissions process? I only had a GPA of 86%, but to have a 90%+ GPA at my school you basically had to be a workaholic. It is consistently ranked 2nd in NJ among public schools.(don’t know why they never get the top ranking) Would colleges take this into consideration and not just look at the relatively low GPA?
<p>Yes, to some degree, colleges do take your highschool into consideration. They do have to be familiar with your school or take the time to study the profile. However a B average at Superior High does not an A average at Average High make. It's a little more tricky than that. That is the risk one takes when one gets the advantages of a top level competitive highschool.</p>
<p>yea, I go to the #1 ranked public school in NJ. This year, our class owned in college admissions, and it was not particularly better than any of the other years.</p>
<p>Colleges definately take the quality of your high school into consideration. A 4.0 at a trash school is not quite the same as a 3.6 at a top hig school.</p>
<p>This is why colleges look at class rank and school profile. Top 10% means very different things at different schools. At a top prep school or magnet school that chose kids by grades/scores in the first place, ivies will look at kids in the top half. At a very competitive public, they may look at kids in the top 25% and at a below average school only the top 5%.</p>
<p>I think my school helped a lot getting me into college, because of its selectivity and unique program. All of the seniors at my school are taking a full freshman courseload at a local college, which shows the colleges that we can do tough college-level work</p>
<p>Only problem with class rank is that our school is so competitive that they do not rank the students. Even if they did they would not disclose this information to colleges. My SAT ranked me in the top 25% of the class. By the way does anyone know where I can find the 2003-2004 NJ state rankings, I knew the previous years, but didn't find out last school year's ranking.</p>
<p>Ameechee, where do you go to school, Millburn? I attended Montgomery, if you ever heard of them, small town.</p>
<p>West Windsor Plainsboro High school North</p>