<p>I rarely see a "chance me!" thread without the...chancee, prefacing their list with "competitive high school". What does this mean? Are they referring to some magazine ranking, or the # of students from each class that goes to an Ivy, or what?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>The high school in question may be very competitive in regard to admissions.
For example, some of our nation's top boarding schools. There are specialized high schools in New York that offer admission based solely on a single sitting on a standardized test. My particular high school's process involved grade 1-8 transcripts, state test scores, a standardized test, and two hour-long interviews.</p>
<p>The school itself may be very competitive--with plenty of academic and extracurricular opportunities. And, as you mentioned, it may be a feeder school to the top universities and LACs. There are prestigious high schools too.</p>
<p>Usually, when CCers say "competitive school," they mean that their schools have many high-performing students. For instance, maybe 8 of the top 10 went to HYP. The typical good students at these schools will take many AP courses and do well on the tests. This is usually used as a way to explain a lower class rank, or to verify that the student has made a great achievement in the context of the school. A competitive school can be public or private. The definition is actually rather loose, but it basically means that there are many good students at the school, and thus, competition for a good class rank.</p>
<p>A competitive high school is one that is usually the top 100 in the country and top ten in the applicants state.</p>
<p>A high school is competitive when HPY visits.</p>
<p>Well, this year my school sent 5-6 people out of ~250 to Ivy-Leagues, and probably another 10 to non-Ivy but good schools [i.e. Notre Dame]. Am I allowed to say "competitive"? :o</p>
<p>Oh yes, unrelated question [but I make too many threads as it is...] but to put AP National Scholar on your College App, I'm guessing you'd have to do the 8-9 5s on AP Exams or whatever the requirement is by the end of Junior Year?</p>
<p>Does being ranked low in a competitive high school look better or worse than being ranked high on a non competitive high school?</p>
<p>try this link to get an idea about some competitive high schools.</p>
<p>i lke sleepy sentry's definition</p>
<p>@ zoax - not really</p>
<p>It can't be true that all those people saying "competitive" go to a Top 100 School, can it.</p>
<p>No. My school used to be on Newsweek's list of elite high schools, but for some reason is gone now. HPY and a bunch of other Ivies and top schools come all the way to Louisiana to visit it every year.</p>
<p>I think competitive school generally means it has a large number of highly motivated students who were accepted to good schools. My school isn't ranked in anything, but I consider it competitive because it sent a kid last year to Harvard, Stanford, Yale, MIT, and a BUNCH of other top schools.</p>
<p>The Top 100 list is so flawed. Where are the privates and the prep schools?</p>
<p>A competitive high school not only means that it sends a large number of kids to the top schools, but also has nearly all of its kids going to 4 year colleges, a large number of them often going to schools that are selective. The average SAT at these schools are as high as those at selective colleges, and course offerings are rigorous.</p>
<p>My son's private school is considered competitive. EVERYONE goes on to a 4year college or to some planned gap year. Less than 5% of the kids go to schools that accept 50% or more of their applicants. So it is not just how well the top kids do at this school but how the bottom group does as well.</p>
<p>I want to add that here on CC, I see many kids stating that they are from competitive or top high schools when they are not.</p>
<p>My school is the same as cptofthehouse's son's.. 100% at 4 years. 35-40% at Top 40-50 colleges, about 20% at state unis (Ga Tech or UGA, never anywhere else) and then everyone else somewhere else. This year our val took a full ride at Vandy, sal went to Princeton, etc. The bottom 10% usually heads to less selective flagships like Bama, Auburn, South Carolina, College of Charleston, or CU-Boulder. I consider my school to be very competitive.</p>
<p>well, like so many words in the english language, "competitive" can mean 100 different things. Language is so imprecise.</p>
<p>Let's see if we can quantify what this term might mean:</p>
<p>A. % of kids going to 4 year colleges: >80%
B. Midpoint SAT of graduating seniors: >1200
C. % of kids matriculating (I don't mean admitted) into CHYMPS: >2%
D. % of kids matriculating into USNWR Top 50: >30%
E. % of graduating seniors that have taken 4+ AP: 50%</p>
<p>Those are all possible measures. I would say if a school's students achieve at least four of those five, it is a "competitive high school".</p>
<p>Or you could cut each of those measures by 10-15%. It's really arbitrary.</p>
<p>A super competitive high school (testing to get in, or top prep schools, or high schools with lots of university professor kids) I think would have all those measures increase, e.g.</p>
<p>A. % of kids going to 4 year colleges: >90%
B. Midpoint SAT of graduating seniors: >1275
C. % of kids matriculating (I don't mean admitted) into CHYMPS: >4%
D. % of kids matriculating into USNWR Top 50: >50%
E. % of graduating seniors that have taken 4+ AP: 70%</p>
<p>I should say that for California, measure (D.) is not too difficult to attain, since five of the UC campuses are Top 50, and reasonably affordable. In other states this measure (D.) might not be realistic.</p>
<p>I would agree that a "competitive" school is one where: (1) nearly all of the students go on to 4-year colleges (and with a significant number being ACCEPTED by top schools), (2) the average SAT/ACT scores are well above the national average, and (3) many AP/IB classes are offered and are taken by most seniors.</p>
<p>However, from a parent's standpoint, I have a problem with using where students actually matriculate, rather than where they are accepted, as a criterion. There are many, many students in the top 10% of their class who do get accepted by one or more of the top 25 schools but opt to attend a lower-ranked public school instead, and it's usually for financial reasons. Particularly in these tough economic times, I see more and more students (especially from middle class and upper class families) opt for cheaper schools rather than take on the burden of paying $150,000 - $200,000 for 4 years at the most elite private schools.</p>
<p>Do you guys know any boarding schools that offer a good "fashion" program?</p>
<p>oops, I means SIX of the UC campuses are Top 50. There are about 24,000 freshman spots available, so admissions is not as tough as private Top 50 schools.</p>