<p>How do colleges really know that a high school is very competitive other than what the high school sends in the "profile" submission?</p>
<p>My experience has been that colleges seem to know the high schools very well. Most colleges have a representative for a specific geographic area so they get to know the schools. My kid’s public HS is uber challenging and competitive. I know that my S got into his college with a somewhat lower than typical GPA and I’m guessing that it is because they were familiar with the HS.</p>