I applied ED for Trinity, and through my research I’ve seen that admission officers will look at you in the context of your school and opportunities available to you. So out of boredom I decided to look up my school’s report (since it’s public), and I’m not sure how to interpret it.
My school has a low average for ACT (17) and the SAT (1350), so it’s obvious that my school will not be seen as competitive. I figure that this will diminish the achievement of being Valedictorian and my GPA. However I think that because of my AP scores (have passed all 8 so far and have Scholar w/Distinction) that my high grades will be justified. In addition, I think that having an ACT of 34 will stand out more, plus my grade level has over 400 plus students so being at the top is still not a completely easy task.
I’m just a little confused if the fact that my school’s not as competitive as some others will hurt me more or will give me more benefit because of “standing out”. Thanks!
Basically, they want to see that you took the most demanding curriculum available to you and don’t want to penalize a student for having only taken 2 AP courses when the school only offers 2 total. They can’t say, “this person only took two AP courses so is clearly inferior to the other student who took 8 at a different school.” Sounds like you’ve taken the most demanding curriculum of courses available to you, done exceptionally well in them, and also have done well on standardized tests. I would say achieving an ACT score of 34 at a school where the average is 17 would likely be seen as major POSITIVE in your application because you’ve overcome obstacles in the environment (students like you at a school with such low ACT/SAT scores are very rare). Yes, it’s possible that the valedictorian status isn’t viewed as favorably because your school is not as competitive, but you test scores back up your academic excellence. Congratulations on your achievements thus far and good luck!