<p>I live in Canada, I am going into 11th grade, and I attend a small private school that has only been open a few years. First of all, please do not take this as an excuse for me not having exceptional grades. Basically, at my school if you try hard you will get a mark around 85%. This is with handing in everything on time and completing the assignments well. The class average is around 73% and very few people get over 90%. </p>
<p>On the contrary, I have friends at public school's near where I live. (Vancouver, BC). As long as they show up to class they receive an 80% and if you hand in assignments, regardless of if you do a good job, you will receive a mark of around 88%. </p>
<p>Now many people are going to say, you just don't try hard enough. Maybe that's true. However, we proved this wrong when we did our provincial examinations because the vast majority of the class scored in the high 90's. When I asked my public school friend, he received marks in the high 70's. </p>
<p>Once again, please don't take this as an excuse. I am just wondering on how the universities will look at marks. Do they actually look at the class average and are there other ways to check how tough the school is? Also, in your opinion, would it be better for me to go to a public school now (grade 11) and score higher marks or stay in this school I have been in for the last two years. If it helps to make the decision easier, My average has been about 83% in both grade 9 and grade 10.</p>
<p>The real question is not your grades but does the school provide enough challenging classes. The colleges you'll apply to will try to discern how tough the grading really is at your school. Here's where your class rank will come into play in your favor or not.</p>
<p>Admissions offices know that grading varies significantly from school to school.</p>
<p>Does how tough your high school is make a difference? </p>
<p>yes it will help you learn and if the colleges know about your HS and how tough it is it will help with admissions...be sure to let the colleges know....</p>
<p>Well if you go to a podunk school in Arkansas,does that exclude you from top colleges because of a weaker course load? I mean if theres AA then there must be some leeway for this.</p>
<p>Grading doesn't just vary from school to school - it can vary a great deal even WITHIN the same school. For example, I have a child in a highly rated public which offers loads of advanced courses. While it aspires to get every student to take at least one of the toughest classes, many students do not go on to college (and if they do it is to a mediocre one). Some kids are coasting through, and the teachers just want to get them to graduate. Other students are highly competitive and are prepping for the top schools. While everyone is challenged to some extent, it depends on the courses that you take. You can take regular LA and sleep through it, or take it AP and be challenged. </p>
<p>Public schools are often places where a lot of different things are happening under one roof. If a student were to have a mix of regular, honors, or AP classes, it does become a little difficult to evaluate fairly.</p>