I know colleges value rigor, but do they value school competitiveness?

Applying to College
1

<p>I got to a top 50 in USA high school that is very competitive. Strong students move from all over the area to come to this school and it is well known.</p>

<p>as a result it is very competitive. Having a 4.3 GPA this semester has put me in the top 10%, but not even close to rank 1, which I believe is a 5.0 or about that.</p>

<p>As a result of the strong student base, the classes are, in my opinion, a lot harder than at other schools. I moved here in the middle of freshman year year, but at my old high school I was taking full honors classes and aced it easily, while here I am getting good grades still (I got 2 B's in the hardest chem honors class in the whole planet but it was weighted in sophomore year. otherwise A's...), it is a LOT more effort and it still doesn't put me as like, rank 1, because other people are taking even more rigorous classes than me (I'm taking 1 AP and 3 honors classes as a Junior. A little skimpy, but I'd consider typical to be 2 APs. There are people taking 3-5, that is what I mean by very rigorous) who have even better GPAs.</p>

<p>At my school, unless you dedicate 100% of your time to studying, taking both APUSH and AP Biology is basically destructive to your sleep and sanity so I chose Biology and dropped APUSH. That is why I'm only taking one. Meanwhile other APs were full. I plan on taking about 4 APs next year but regardless, taking more than 2 APs at my school in junior year is basically infeasible except for those genius types (you know what I mean). If this gives some sort of context to you guys about how difficult my school is, let me know. I don't know how typical it is for smart students to take more than 2 APs at other schools, but at my school it is a shock for someone to take more than 2, even though we have many very smart kids, because of how hard the classes are.</p>

<p>I guess another way to look at it; in AP Biology at my school, 99% of kids get a 4 or 5 on the AP test because of how hard the class is and as a result how well it prepares you for the AP test. Meanwhile for APUSH it's like 80%, and 99% for 3 and above. For other APs like AP Stat and all the others (my school pretty much has them all) it's a similar statistic.</p>

<p>So I was wondering... knowing I have all this extremely unbalanced competition that you wouldn't find at other schools, and not trying to have a large ego but being a pretty smart guy who is finding himself overshadowed by all these other very smart students, was it a mistake to come here?</p>

<p>My education is much better here, but I think I become a small fish in a lake versus a big fish in a little pond like my old school...</p>

<p>To summarize... will colleges know that I am at a very difficult, different school?</p>

2

<p>College’s have a pretty good handle on the prestigious high schools in America. They get it. They get that some schools are harder than others. A lot of high schools are trying to get rid of ranks (and whole top % in class) because it can only hurt the students in terms of applying to college. Your classes sound great, and so do your grades. I honestly don’t think you have anything to worry about. With any situation when it comes to applying to college, they will look at the whole picture. I wouldn’t worry too much. Are you applying to top tier universities?</p>

3

<p>Well, I’m not sure exactly where I’m applying, but I will be looking at at Stanford in terms of super prestigious. All UCs such as Berkeley and UCLA will be there. These are all of course reaches, despite my grades, considering they are very competitive, but I think with good luck I’ll get into UCLA or Berkeley. I only apply to Stanford since it’s very close to home and if I got in, it would be awesome ^^ haha although it’s WAY too competitive for me I think.</p>

<p>I got like a 4.1 or 4.2 GPA and my SAT is about 2150 or 2200 (we’ll see what I get, I got 2100 on my first try but I messed up a little with accidental blanks haha) so I’m competitive, but as you can see I’m not a GENIUS (2400 SAT, 4.5 GPA etc)</p>

4

<p>I have to say, your SATs are still pretty good scores. I live on the complete opposite side of the country, so I don’t know anything about colleges in California (just that they are competitive) If there is one thing that I’ve learned along this entire admissions process that I’ve been going through- is that you just never know. Some of the schools I got into, I never imagined would be attainable, but somehow I got accepted. Colleges will see the hard work, and understand the fact that you come from a rather competitive high school. They get applications from tons of high schools and have a pretty good idea in terms of demographics. You’re a junior, I assume? Just keep working hard, keep your grades up, and re-evaluate where you are in the fall. It can’t hurt to apply to any of the schools that you mentioned. Just make sure that you have safeties, and it will be all good :D</p>

5

<p>

there, you have said it yourself.</p>

<p>Let me ask you this hypothetical: If your current school prepares you so well that you will enter college with a preparation advantage over 90% of your fellow collegians, but your class rank causes you to get into USNWR school rank #18 instead of #8, would it be worth it?</p>

<p>Now, assume the second part of that HYPO is incorrect. Assume the tougher school with more competition for class rank, and more rigorous preparation, is accounted for by elite college admissions. This I believe is the correcty scenario.</p>

<p>You are in a win/win. You are receiving superior college preparation, and it will be noted and adjusted for in elite college admissions.</p>

<p>I will note that I believe the first HYPO is the situation for kids at elite high schools who find themselves in the bottom quartile of the class. Whether the bottom quartile kid at a competitive, elite HS has made the right choice is more of a matter of debate.</p>