<p>Ive been wondering. Is it how smart your school is?</p>
<p>Competitiveness doesn't really go with smartness.</p>
<ul>
<li># kids that go on to college</li>
<li>average SAT/ACT score</li>
<li><h1>NMSFs, AP Scholars</h1></li>
<li><p>not so much on GPA because some schools are known for inflating their students' grades</p></li>
</ul>
<p>When they do like NMSF, are they looking at it based on your class size?</p>
<p>Because for like the other schools in the districts its like </p>
<p>4/870</p>
<p>At my school it's like 5/180</p>
<p>I think I meant %. Divide # NMSFs by class size.</p>
<p>Not your fault, I was just wondering in general</p>
<p>my HS has 18 semifinalists and 14 commended out of a class of 348...is that competitive?</p>
<p>It's all relative. Our kids' HS has 35 NMSFs out of 240 or so seniors, which is the highest % in our state. 99% go on to 4-year colleges. LOTS of AP scholars. For 2005, the school had 50 commended students--don't know how many for 2006, but probably more, since there are > 10 more NMSFs at the school for 2006 than for 2005.</p>
<p>I know we had like 20+/180 commended.</p>
<p>Unless the applicant's hs is a feeder school, the "competitiveness" of the hs is not a factor except to the extent that attending raises the applicant's SAT scores. (For example, TJ is a feeder for UVA and some NY schools are feeders for Columbia.) If the hs isn't a feeder for the college that you want, then going to a "competitive" hs can hurt the applicants since dozens of students may apply to the same elite college and they limit the number accepted from the hs.</p>
<p>But they might cut you a little more slack on GPA or class rank (at least if your classmates aren't also applying there).</p>
<p>my school is ranked top 5 in the country... and I ranked at my school top 3%</p>
<p>It's amazing how many people think their HS is top ranked.</p>
<p>You would be better off if you were in the top 5 in a school ranked in the top 3% (as if a ranking of HS's with credibility existed).</p>
<p>My school doesn't give exact ranks... but if it did... I would rank 1</p>
<p>My school doesn't even know what NMSF is. ;)</p>
<p>My school once had a lot until section 8 was allowed...</p>
<p>This high school ranking stuff is a joke. Especially Newsweek. The private school rankangs get pretty silly too when they change every year because school one only got 38% into ivies S and M and school 2 got 39%. The average SAT scores at top privates are all about the same (mid to high 1300s old) and the % of NMSF is about 1/3 of the class at most.</p>
<p>This is truly competitive, schools that require testing and an application and recs on par with an ivy. There are very competitive publics, especially in a few very affluent big city suburbs, but they do have more of a range.</p>
<p>Many HS cultivate relationships with colleges that their students attend. If the college is happy with the students that come to their campuses (students are well-prepared & do well on their campus, adding a lot), it can make the college look more favorable about future students from that HS.<br>
There isn't necessarily a set number of students a college will take from a particular HS in any case. The colleges do prefer having kids from a range of HS rather than many similar kids from the same HS tho.</p>
<p>I never realized how much my HS sucked until i came onto CC. 39% of a class going to ivies? This year was the first year someone from my school going to an Ivy in 5 years. </p>
<p>And what is NMSF?</p>
<p>National Merit Semi-Finalist</p>
<p>ooooooh.... thanks. I thought it was some math contest or something. ::headdesk::. These acronyms are gonna kill me.</p>