<p>How do colleges file students- do they rank all students from school X and compared them side by side, admitting only two or there students from school X? Or do they combine all applicants regardless of what school they attend and look at them holistically? I'd like to think that my classmates are not my direct competitors--that my application to a university will not affect my friends' chances much in the grand scheme of things. But I've heard of a school in Philadelphia that admits 26 of there students- 26% of their class- to Upenn. and I've noticed that my school sends a constant number of students to top universities (almost always 6 people for cornell, 6 people for Penn, one for Princeton, etc.) and I feel that colleges have a 'quota' for each high school and limit the number of undergraduates from a high school to around that number.</p>
<p>transcripts are judged on a school by school basis, SAT's are not...</p>
<p>I think it's by region</p>
<p>Aren't there usually like one admission officer dedicated to a specific region or cluster of states at a time. One admission officier governs and reads all the applicantions from these 14 states. One admission officer catalogues and researchs the intensity, breath, and depth of each individual highschool. Don't they compare graduates from that highschool that applied and were accepted from previous years to see what grades they had and what coursework they had in the past to judge who you are in relation to those types of students...</p>
<p>The more you think into this, the more crazy it will get. lol. Don't let this get to you. :-p</p>