Questions about the HS Profile

Applying to College
1

<p>My school is a private school and is rather small (my Junion class has 45 students). My GPA is 3.5 and I rank about 50%. That's on the low side, I know. I am worried about this. But my school is quite difficult and I am hopeful that AC's will figure that out when they look at my school Profile. Are AC's good about looking at the Profiles? How does an AC use the profile to evaluate the rigor of a school? What are they looking for? </p>

<p>The average SAT score at my school is 1950. That's pretty darn high and I am wondering if AC's will see that and realize my school is very challenging. I have friends who have straight-As who can go days without studying. I study every day and every night and still have trouble keeping up. Does the average SAT score of a school bear weight on the AC's evaluation of a school? I can't imagine they have time to deeply study every single school Profile, so what kinds of things are they looking for mostly?</p>

<p>Thanks for reading my LONG question. I bet if I attended my local public school, my GPA would be 3.8 to 4.0+.</p>

2

<p>The average of 1950 is on the higher side, but not out of the range of competitive publics. </p>

<p>You will be judged among your peers you attended school with,what your school opportunities were and did you make best use(challenging course load IB/AP) which is what the school profile will dictate, however, some profiles are better than others.</p>

3

<p>Colleges are indeed looking for the rigor of your school when they look at a school profile. The College Board describes recommended elements of a high school profile on a webpage. </p>

<p>Elements</a> of a High School Profile </p>

<p>Some colleges also write about what they like to see in a high school profile, e.g., </p>

<p>Helpful</a> Hints on a High School Profile, Counselors, Advisers, Teachers, Office of Undergraduate Admission - Northwestern University </p>

<p>University</a> of Michigan - Office of Undergraduate Admissions </p>

<p>I have some links to examples of high school profiles, just to show you what a few of them look like. </p>

<p>Edina</a> High School Profile 2006-2007 </p>

<p>(I know the Edina Public Schools well.) </p>

<p>Lexington</a> High School Profile </p>

<p>Villa</a> Park High School Profile </p>

<p>Quest</a> High School Profile includes email contacts, demographics, and more </p>

<p>Some of these webpages may or may not be in the form that a counselor would attach to a college application.</p>

4

<p>You say: The average of 1950 is on the higher side, but not out of the range of competitive publics.</p>

<p>Competitive "magnet" public schools but I'd venture to say 98% of all public HS's in America have an SAT average under 1600.</p>