Do college admissions compare you to other students in your school?

Applying to College
1

I’m applying to something like 15-20 schools (not sure yet, depends how much time I have for essays haha!). I have pretty good stats I’d say, 5.6 gpa (6.0 scale, rank 1/272), 2280 SAT, etc. However, this is not at all representative of the school I attend. My close friend has a 5.08 gpa, and she’s rank 8/272 (there’s a huge gap in GPA between me and the rest of my class), and she has a 28 on her ACT. When she applies to college, will they compare her to my stats, and will that hurt her chances of admission? There are some schools that the both of us are applying to, like USC and Tufts. While I love USC and Tufts, if me applying to the same places as her hurts her chances, I’m more than willing to not apply to certain schools, because there are plenty of other schools I love just as much.

Hopefully this post did not come off as a humblebrag, that’s not what I intended. If anyone could give me some insight on this, I’d much appreciate it!

2

Oh and also, I’m not asking for “chances.” I know a 28 isn’t in the middle 50% of tufts or usc, but let her live lol.

3

SAT/ACT scores will stand by themselves. That is why they are called “standardized” tests. Her chances of admission to Tufts and USC are next to zero regardless of what high school she attends.

GPA may be compared to other students at her school but that is irrelevant in her case.

4

@TomSrOfBoston Ok… Then lets say the school we’re both applying to is UF? Or some other magical school where my test score is X and hers is X-2 and their middle 50% is X-3 to X.