<p>Whenever I see chances threads, I always see stuff like this:</p>
<p>"White male, 2150 SAT, very competitive high school."</p>
<p>What does a high school need to be competitive? Does it need perfect SAT scorers? Does it need to be a magnet school? Does it need fame and that coveted "top 100 high school" rank given by the U.S. News and World Report? I would really like to know what some people think is "competitive" when it comes to high schools.</p>
<p>Produces numbers of students who can compete nationally/internationally while coming out in the top percentiles. How they produce these winners is what folks will talk about. The fact that your school can produce them is what makes the school competitive.</p>
<p>Catfights in the hallway over who gave who else's boyfriend VD.</p>
<p>Oh wait, that's a different kind of competition. More like my school. Heh.</p>
<p>california gives each public HS an API score, based on state standards tests, adjusted for socio-economic factors, so it's easy to see which are the most competitive.</p>
<p>and how do you then compare your CA schools to the national/international schools? By what measure?</p>
<p>Average SAT score, average AP score, # of AP tests taken per graduating senior. These, because they can be applied nationally, are generally the ways one judges high school.</p>
<p>If you fail you get shot in the head.</p>
<p>Competitiveness doesn't just have to be academic. Schools could be athletically competitive as well.</p>