<p>Wondering exactly what the question states. Do they use state test scores, SAT's, or how previous graduates from your school have fared. For example my public school is in the top 3 for all subjects of the state test but our average sat's are around 480-460 per subject. Also we don't send many students to top colleges AT ALL. In the last three years the best have been one student to William and Mary and one to Wake Forest. Our school devotes the whole curriculum to state test scores and funding as you can tell. It's actually very sad but anyway... How do they determine a "competitive" school?</p>
<p>They can tell if the school has had applications from previous students.</p>
<p>That makes little sense if they have had no applicants doesn’t it? It all sounds rather subjective. I see all these people say, “I go to a very competitive school so my 3.5 is very good.” I question this reasoning, because, if it is truly a factor I wanted to know if I went to a “competitive” school or a weak school where top 10% is poor performance. Perhaps I’m over-thinking it though.</p>
<p>When your HS sends your transcript to a college, it includes something called the high school profile, where the school provides all sorts of context for the educational climate. This usually includes the school’s avg SAT score, number of APs offered, demographic info, etc. Here’s an example of one from the College Board: [Sample</a> High School Profile](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/guidance/counseling/profile/sample]Sample”>Sample High School Profile – Counselors | College Board)</p>
<p>You should ask to see your high school profile and make sure that it does a good job of accurately reflecting your school (and you).</p>
<p>wow never knew that Youdon’tsay, thanks for enlightening me. I’ll make a point of asking about this next time I talk to guidance, looks like interesting stuff.</p>
<p>No prob. When I heard about it on cc, I asked to see ours, and, to be blunt, it was AWFUL. Thankfully, that year we got a full-time college counselor for the first time who came from a college admissions background, and she realized how poor it was and went about improving it. Our old one had paragraph after paragraph of narrative that said, basically, “We’re great,” but not enough numbers to back it up.</p>