<p>As we all know, no two high schools are alike.</p>
<p>I go to one of the most prestigious high schools in my city, which happens to present a very difficult courseload. For example, getting an B at my school might be paralleled to getting an A at my friends' school. We are held to higher standards and expectations than, and thus are loathed by, most other kids.</p>
<p>But let's say that my friend (at a "less difficult" public school) and I both get straight A's and theoretically get the same GPA. How do colleges know that I went to the harder school? I heard that some sort of "high school viewbook" is sent by the counselor, but even if that were true - is it enough?</p>
<p>I want to colleges to know that I didn't just opt into a public high school like everyone else: Rather, I applied for a tough private high school where my parents are paying thousands of dollars of tuition and driving me half an hour back and forth for my school and activities.</p>
<p>How do colleges know and do they take this into consideration?</p>
<p>Your class rank and school profile, sent with your transcript, let them ascertain admission benchmarks for your school. The calibre of previous years' applicants from your school also allow them to make build a profile.</p>
<p>regardless of what you and (and as my buddy cav loves to say) the PTA moms think about the difficulty of your school, most colleges have an idea of how good a school is.</p>
<p>You know you go to a good school if you have lots of kids from past years going to good colleges. So look at past years. Does the top 25% go to top 25 schools? Is your school one of those that sends like 10% of your class to ivy league schools? if it is, then these schools know your school is tough.</p>
<p>If your school is one of those where you have 200 kids in your class, and you find 40 of them go to the "X state college", a bunch go to tier 2 schools and maybe you get like 10 or so kids into top 25 schools, then your just overhyping your school.</p>
<p>just because you go to a private school that costs $10000/yr+ doesn't make it good.</p>
<p>There are regional admissions officers that oftentime read your applications. They have a decent idea about the top schools in their assigned region.</p>
<p>when counselors mail your transcripts in, they usually send them with a copy of your high school's profile so that we understand what is offered at your high school just in case we aren't familiar with it...</p>
<p>however, just because you go to what you or others perceive as a "more rigorous" or "better" school doesn't mean that 1) we in admissions perceive it that way or 2) just because you've gone to said "better" school you have an advantage in the admissions process. Many high schools love to toot their own horns and talk about how great they are - especially some private schools and also public schools that have a track record of good testing results. I can't tell you the number of times I hear every year "the college prep course at our school are like the honors classes at another and the honors classes here are like AP classes at another" and so on...guess what? that's the school's opinion of themselves. what really matters is what you took advantage of at your particular school and how well you did at your particular school. if your school offers a ton of ap's and you've taken a lot and done well, you're in good shape. if you go to a school that only offers 3 ap's and they've taken one or two or all of them, then they're probably in good shape, too. and if your school offers none but you've taken the toughest courseload that you could, then you'll be in good shape as well. it's all about what you did with the opportunities available to you and your particular school.</p>
<p>i think all schools have an API score, that pretty much determines the 'level', and they're not stupid. i'm sure they have some idea of which schools are good and which are not. that's what my counselor told me when i had the same question.</p>
<p>AdOfficer: Your posts have been very helpful. At my D's school, they offer several AP courses, but to get into them is very difficult. YOu have to have had a 95% or better THE ENTIRE PREVIOUS year in the prerequisite course. IN other words, if you got a 98 for three quarters, and a 94 the last quarter of the year, you do not qualify for the AP course the next year. How would an admissions officer know that the reason she didnt take a lot of AP classes despite her grades all in the low 90s was that she didn't qualify?</p>
<p>Colleges (at least those where having fairly high grades and test scores are generally required for admission) tend to have regional admissions personnel whose job includes being aware of the competitiveness of high schools in their regions. There are several ways colleges use to determine competitiveness, including: (a) they may already have a history with the high school in receiving many apps and admitting (or denying) students; (b) schools provide profiles which show courses offered (including APs and honors) and GPA ranges; (c) they get the high school's figures on percent taking the SAT or ACT and the average scores (that information is available to them from the testing agencies and also, usually, from the high school). What is then actually deemed to be a competitive high school depends on the college except that, generally, there are far more students who believe they come from "competitive" high schools than the colleges usually believe are competitive schools.</p>
<p>SunShadow - we know the vast majority of the high schools in the territories we read really well and are aware of some of their academic/placement policies. However, most schools attach a copy of the school's profile to the student's transcript before they mail the transcript off to us. Usually, information on policies like the one you described are detailed on the profile for us to be made aware of.</p>