<p>What truly is a "competitive" high school?
I've seen it thrown around on this forum WAY too much.
My school sends 60 people to GT and 60 people to GT a year (state schools).
We also send about 15 a year to ivies and MIT. We have the second highest average SAT scores in the state. With a 96 numeric average, my class rank is not within the top 10% of the class.
How does your "Competitive High School" stack up?</p>
<p>Highest Average SATs scores in the state.
2-3 Siemens-Westinghouse Competition Semifialists a year.
Every year, 1-2 to MIT, 4-5 to Cornell, 2-3 to Tufts, 3-4 to Either Swarthmore, Williams, or Amherst.
Attend full time classes at a private university for senior year. (Worcester Polytechnic Institute).
6-8 to State Science Fair every year.
International Science Fair every other year.</p>
<p>All in Massachusetts.</p>
<p>second best in northern virginia, newsweek top 100 school
~40 to UVA, ~10 Ivies, 1 Stanford, 6 Georgetown
Second highest scores in state
Avg GPA To UVA: ~3.9 (Highest GPA is 4.1)</p>
<p>The last two posters, I'm sure that your school is competitive but how many people are in "the middle" and go to good schools other than those highly selective ones(equivalent to my state schools). I'm just curious to see.<br>
btw 40 to UVA?!! thats crazy!</p>
<p>What kind of courses do students take at your high school? </p>
<p>Here in my state, two nearby (but nearby enough for my son to enroll in them) school districts each have extensive AP courses, and students from those two high schools are "competitive" for getting into the most famous national universities. The students in my local school district are not so much, I think because the district's schools don't prepare them to be as competitive, so we homeschool here.</p>
<p>uva is in-state for me, and theres a lot of kids in each class, 500-600 kids in each class</p>
<p>last year, my history teacher used to work at georgetown and said that my school was one of the best in the state (nj). we send a few to the ivies and like 10-20 to other pretty good schools (g-town, bc, holy cross, etc.) as a reference, last year, those who averaged a 92 from my school got into villanova, and people w/ a 94 from my school got into bc. sure, i know there are other factors, but those are just "prestige" factors at my school</p>
<p>Admissions officers have often said that students believe there are far more competitive high schools than admissions officers believe. Often it is based on something as simple as the average ACT or SAT scores for the school but how colleges determine it varies (including whether they even consider it as a factor).</p>
<p>I think the term competitive can vary based on geographic location; the bar is higher in some states than others, just due to resources. I consider my sons' HS "competitive" in that there is only a 15% acceptance rate into the school, the average SAT score hovers around 680-710 per section (2nd highest in state), often have one of the state's Pres Scholars, approximately 15-20% of each class is NMF, same for ivy matriculation, etc. And 25 - 30% of each class matriculates to either W&M or UVa (in-state). Many more obviously have multiple ivy, top LAC, MIT or state acceptances. Average community service hours for class is 220 per student (and there are very strict guidelines as to what qualifies for CS), consistently win or place in national quiz bowl, model UN, We the People, KMO, math, Siemans, etc. competitions. The top colleges do in-school info sessions each fall. Let's just put it this way, there is not a top school across the country that a recent graduate has not matriculated to, so overnight visits to colleges are easy to arrange with an alum.</p>
<p>For the kids at or near the top of their class, it says something. For the kids in the middle, they received a phenominal education but may have done so at the cost of sacrificing being a superstar at their local HS, so there is a definite trade-off. But they will be VERY well prepared for college. Most kids find college much easier than this HS was.</p>
<p>That being said, due to the entrance exams, the school is made up of a student body that is not a representation of your average public school. This is, I think, what makes most schools be labeled "competitive" by CCers, fair or unfair as that may be.</p>
<p>well no offense to the previous poster but you can never compare private vs. public, so in terms of competitive is concerned you have to look at private and public high schools differently, so many of those who say their school is competitive probably aren't referring to something ridiculous like what you just said</p>
<p>To the previous poster, students at my school have access to pretty much every single AP offered(except Italian)
To superstressed and Sewbusy... where do the people with not so stellar, but good stats go? I'm just curious what people do when their state school is not very good or is highly selective(UVA)</p>
<p>well, they apply out of state or, in my case, if not UVA, then NYU, William&Mary, Boston University, Penn State</p>
<p>Regular public school:</p>
<p>25+ a year total to Ivies+MIT+Stanford (10+ of which go to Penn). Several to Duke/WUSTL/NU/Tufts/Emory/Michigan</p>
<p>Average student goes to Penn State, Penn or NYU.</p>
<p>hey Yellow_Jackets!! what school do you go to?
maybe northview? walton?</p>
<p>If we're lucky maybe 1-2 at top 15 schools.</p>
<p>Yeah, that's how ghetto my school is.</p>
<p>well my school is in the top 1% of the high schools in the nation, and is the best in our state. We have 15 National Merit semifinalists, most of whom will go to the finalist state....we have like 20 people applying to Yale 50 people applying to the top 10 schools.....so i guess my school is competitive......</p>
<p>Yea I go to Northview
also to the previous poster our school has 20 national Merit : ]
but how do you know that your school is top 1%?</p>
<p>hey i go to northview too xD
senior?</p>
<p>Yellow Jackets:</p>
<p>I was not trying to offend, but merely offer what some schools actually do have. Believe me, I know this is not the norm.</p>
<p>BTW, this is a public school, located in the city, in an area that until a few years ago had it's fair share of boarded up homes and businesses, but is slowly being revitalized. Many parents would not and still do not allow their children to apply because of their fear of the area.</p>
<p>And yes, we are incredibly fortunate to live in a state with fabulous public colleges. Which makes it even tougher to pay for S1's private college. </p>
<p>My daughters both attend different public high schools and with continued hard work will also have a great shot at good schools. </p>
<p>My point was that not everyone is able to attend such "competitive" schools because of where they happen to live. I think the admissions people know that. My sons's school does not offer every AP class (I think they offer 21 or so) and many kids go to all kinds of colleges. But they do have a 99-100% rate of entering college and the GC do a great job of helping them find a college that's a good place for them to spend their next four years.</p>
<p>^ I can only assume you are talking about TJ?</p>
<p>superstresseddd, what school do you go to? Langley? And sewbusy, Maggie Walker?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Admissions officers have often said that students believe there are far more competitive high schools than admissions officers believe.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I <em>think</em> my school is actually competitive.</p>
<p>Public school with ~420-500/class. Magnet: ~16% acceptance rate. "The Middle": 1496/1600 SAT two years ago. 713/743/699 (CR/M/W) average SAT this year. 151 NMSF this year. ~90-100 to UVA (201 accepted). "The Top": 14 Intel STS semifinalists, 5 Siemens semifinalists last year. 35 USABO semifinalists, 12 USAMO qualifiers (2 winners), 8 USAPho semifinalists (2 US team members), two USAICO camp qualifiers. 10+/-6 each year go to each of HYPSM.</p>