My D20 attends a public HS in MA. Her HS is typically ranked in the top 20 schools in the state and was listed by US News as a top 10 school. Just wondering how much this factors into the college admissions process. I see people listing their GPA and rigor of classes but rarely any mention of what type of HS they attend. I know the academics at her HS vs a neighboring town’s HS are very different (for example, I have.a divorced friend with kids at both high schools). She says the C1 classes at our school are harder than her other son’s honor classes. And I’m sure they would differ even further from a rural school in the south for example.
So do colleges factor these differences in? Or is a 3.5 unweighted GPA considered the same no matter where you attended HS? It seems like elite private schools may be viewed differently but what about public schools? I also understand that MA is supposed to have some of the best public schools in the country, so how does that factor in? We live in a town with “great schools” but when my kids are doing 5+ hours of homework a night while only in one honors & one AP class, I wonder if we’d be better off in a town with lesser schools where they could easily have a 4.0 GPA.
Colleges will look at the school profile your school sends, which probably will indicate things like grade distributions and honors and AP courses available at the school. This will help the college “contextualize” your child’s achievements.
The high school itself will not make or break your child’s chances. The key is context. What opportunities did your child have, did your child challenge him/herself as much as these opportunities allowed, and how did your child perform relative to his classmates?
I do thinks colleges have a good read on overall rigor of many high schools. I have heard admissions counselors say things like I know an A at your school really means an A. ( which also means I know an A at that other school is really not an A). While it’s true that they can’t directly compare a gpa from school A to school B, they know that not all high schools are equal in terms of rigor, grade inflation/ deflation.
What percentage of students from your school get accepted into top 20 colleges every year? That may give you an idea. From my experience, better public school prepares you well for college but doesn’t give you any boost in admissions to top colleges.
^But do not worry if your high school does not send many students to your child’s top choice. Your child is judged individually within the context I described above.
My son is the first student from his high school (at least in the history of Naviance) to be attending Williams College. A ‘17 grad was the first ever to go to Yale. Colleges may have a rich history with and deep knowledge of your high school. But they also may not, and that’s okay.
An A is an A and a B is a B. Unfortunately, even at tough hs, competitive performance can matter. But for top holistic colleges, its not just stats that determine admit chances.
The colleges dont care–they may say they look at the high school profile but they dont. If you get straight As online and get the right SAT plus whatever else is better than B+s from Lexington etc
I believe the admissions officers have a very good understanding of the different high schools within their geographic region (say northeast for example). They know which schools are more demanding and competitive than others. Once the high schools are farther away, I’m not so sure. I think the only thing they have to go on is the school profile.
I’ve noticed in my area certain colleges/universities recruit at certain high schools. I think it’s a combination of seeking quality students and students who can pay. Last spring I was at a local accepted students night for an out of state school. The AO commented that evening that they love students from our area because we have several strong, competitive public high schools that prepare students well for college. I’ve noticed at our top private (and expensive) high school in the area, certain private colleges recruit there. I believe they do so because those students can pay the private college tuition.
Regional ad coms are aware of HS reputations. That said, a 3.5 GPA student will be assessed amongst their peers within the school and rank, standardized test scores, etc… all come into play. In my experience, the kids that are getting admitted to highly competitive schools from highly competitive HS, still have UW 3.8+ GPAs, are in the top 10% of the class and are getting 1500+/33+ on their SAT/ACT.
I think the colleges know. D21 goes to a different, much more highly ranked high school than S17 did. While kids at S17’s school did well with admissions, D21’s school sends close to 1/2 the class to highly competitive colleges. The college profile they have posted from last year shows SAT, ACT and AP test scores much higher than S17’s school gets. We’ve often wondered if D21 would have been better staying at our son’s high school, taking all honors and AP courses and having straight A’s, instead of being much closer to the middle of the pack where she is.
BUT - the other unknown in that equation is that D21’s school is also extremely wealthy. How much does the fact that a lot of these kids can be full pay at a $70k+ school come into play? Also, a lot of these parents are alumni and donors at these top schools. My gut is that plays almost as big a role as the school being super competitive. In the end, I know D21 will be prepared for college, wherever she ends up.
Schools in the region will likely recognize the school and may factor that in the decision. A school outside the region won’t know and really won’t care. They’re just going to judge the grades and SAT scores as they are. Don’t worry, there are plenty of scholarships to be had with a 3.5 GPA. If she scores high on her SAT/ACT score, the south tends to be very generous with nonresident scholarships. Univ. of Alabama is especially generous to students with high SAT/ACT scores. Texas State and LSU are other examples.
“they may say they look at the high school profile but they dont.”
Where do you get this? Holistic adcoms spend about half the year focused on their territories. They have resources to learn about schools they may not know. And they’ll check the SR.
“A school outside the region won’t know and really won’t care. They’re just going to judge the grades and SAT.”
Again, not in holistic.
Our expereince is that a good HS can make a difference. Our local public school is well known to colleges as being a rigorous, challenging HS and students do extremely well in terms of college admissions.