What makes a high school “competitive”? Or, how can I tell if my high school is considered competitive?
<p>How hard it is to be ranked #1 is a good indication. At my school, I had to take the "maxed out" schedule from the start, but there were only about 15 kids who were doing the same. At this point in time, if I make a B I won't even lose rank due to the mistakes of those "below" me (im not trying to be condescending). </p>
<p>Also, how hard are your "hardest" classes? In an AP class, can you just read the chapters and get an A, or do you have to do loads of problems, hours of studying, etc. to get it? </p>
<p>This is a very subjective test, but really I believe high school is as much as you put into it. There is so much opportunity out there even if you go to a horrible high school (independent study, self-studying AP, etc.) I'd rank my high school a 4/10.</p>
<p>if you've got people covering up their notes in class even though the notes are on the board</p>
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How hard it is to be ranked #1 is a good indication. At my school, I had to take the "maxed out" schedule from the start, but there were only about 15 kids who were doing the same. At this point in time, if I make a B I won't even lose rank due to the mistakes of those "below" me (im not trying to be condescending).
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Hmm... I'm ranked one, and 2-3 people share my rank. Of of these people (my best friend) got a B in an AP class and she's still ranked one.</p>
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Also, how hard are your "hardest" classes? In an AP class, can you just read the chapters and get an A, or do you have to do loads of problems, hours of studying, etc. to get it?
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We do have to do a lot of work, and APUSH and BC Calc have legendary horror stories. But then again, the work isn't anywhere near as difficult as it's supposed to be in a Phillips Academy. Um... next year my school is going to begin an open honors/AP enrollment policy. I suppose that means we're straying toward the uncompetitive?</p>
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if you've got people covering up their notes in class even though the notes are on the board
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<p>lol nope, we don't have any of that.</p>
<p>"What makes a high school "competitive"? Or, how can I tell if my high school is considered competitive?"</p>
<p>yeah, difficulty of obtaining a high rank or having multiple valedictorians is one indicator. a better indicator is if your school doesn't even rank cuz it's TOO competitive! another indicator is by seeing where the seniors end up matriculating at. if you see many top schools on the list, then chances are, the class was very competitive.</p>
<p>Thomas Jefferson HS for Sci. & Tech. We have no valedictorians because we don't rank beacuse our school is too competitive. Our school is known around the country and we're actually a stop for many foreign educator tours of america. we have several college courses that are beyond AP classes(DNA,neurobio, ai, supercomputing, etc). our school sends a lot of kids to great schools. they send out a special paper attached w/transcript explaining the prestige of school and where all the students from last year ended up.</p>
<p>Average SAT: 1482
Public Magnet School w/entrance exam(Fairfax County)
Top ranked Math Team, Computer Team, Crew Team, etc etc.</p>
<p>More info: wikipedia it or tjhsst.edu</p>
<p>And that information really doesn't help the original poster at all...</p>
<p>lol, MzLover3...lol</p>
<p>op-If you put faith into them, you can check the Newsweek rankings of top public high schools, but that doesn't include all those crazy competitive privates.</p>
<p>I don't put faith in the Newsweek rankings (which ranked us at #800-something).</p>
<p>As for where the seniors matriculate...</p>
<p>Out of a class of about 500, we usually have around 50 going to UCs, 1-3 going to HYPSM, and 1-3 going to other fairly selective universities such as UChicago, Cornell, and Penn.</p>