when colleges review your applications do they side by side compare you with fellow applicants from your school?
You should assume that some comparison takes place.
But if there are two very strong students they may take both.Another applicant isn’t taking your slot!
Yes, to an extent, you will be compared to your fellow classmates, especially on GPA and course rigor. If you notice, most schools admit roughly 1.2 per school (example: admitted 600 students from 500 different schools).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AB-5dCFQrs. If you watch that video, you’ll hear one of the admissions officers say, “She’s the weakest in the group. Probably ends it for her.”
Some high schools routinely send 5-10 students to many Ivy League schools so I am not sure where you get the 1.2 number. It depends on the high school and the college.
@lostaccount I’m not denying that some of the best and most well-respected high schools routinely send 5-10 students to many Ivy League schools, but for most high schools, it’s limited to 1-2. (CC probably attracts a disproportionately large amount of kids from those very high-achieving high schools).
Example of my point: https://www.pomona.edu/news/2016/03/18-introducing-pomona-college-class-2020. 743 admits, 617 high schools. If you hunt down the numbers for more schools, you’ll find the ~1.2 number is pretty normal.