The Almost Secret High School Profile
What IS a High School Profile? Because it is something you cannot influence or change, I haven’t mentioned it before. Yet, it can have a real impact on how your student is admitted OR not, offered scholarships or not, etc. And, it is sent to any college or national scholarship competition your student applies to. Every time. And it has an impact.
As a parent, we all have a sense that all high schools in our area are NOT equal in quality. As a parent, we hope to be able to live in a “good school district”, whatever that means, so our kids receive a quality education. Some families will “move” into a better-perceived District for that reason. It happens in sports and it happens for academic reasons.
Your High School’s standardized profiles cover things like, total enrollment, ethnicity statistics, number of AP courses, Honors Courses, Clubs & extracurricular activities available. Note the word standardized. It is a statistical summary, a snapshot, of your student’s high school.
In effect, your student’s school profile, including private school profiles, is a standardized yardstick designed to help college admissions departments compare applicants for admission, AND create a context for academic scholarship offers.
Let me try with a simple example. Let’s say student A, Jimmy, attends a High School with just 100 seniors, that offers 6 AP courses, 10 clubs, a small honors program, and that’s about it. Jimmy is ranked number 24 in his class, which is respectable. He has an unweighted grade point average of 3. 4.
Now, let‘s take a different school and student B, Susie. Susie attends a high school with 300 seniors, that offers 14 AP courses, 24 clubs, and a full Honors program. Susie, with an identical unweighted GPA of 3.4, is ranked equivalently at number 72 in her class. Based on their respective class sizes, they are equal in rank.
Now, pretend you are the admissions counselor. You have only one admission slot to offer to either Jimmy or Susie. What do you do? Well, you look for a lot of things, and one of them is the “reputation” of the High School. How did others from that same school do at your college? Did they graduate? Did they drop out? Have you ever had someone from the second school attend? How did THEY do?
I will state unequivocally that I would NEVER want the admission job of choosing to offer a position in a college class. I helped my college one time with their coveted full-ride scholarship and it gave me nightmares for weeks. All the candidates were top-notch! We were parsing resumes and interviews, trying so hard to come to a good decision.
I know admissions counselors work hard. But they have to make decisions, and they often go with safe choices. Safe decisions tend to favor the better high schools, the more well-known schools, and those that show a “good track record.” After all, they want the student to do well enough to keep paying the bill.
Yes- they DO make exceptions. There’s a candidate with a literary masterpiece of an essay from a less-than-grand high school; there’s the talented (fill in your subject ) who would be a great addition to the class profile. There are always exceptions. But they are just that; eye-catching exceptions.
I believe admissions counselors try to evaluate each applicant fairly. I really do. But when it comes to final decisions, when everything has been picked apart like a barbecue rib, sometimes you go with what you have seen work before.
Make no mistake. It will always be harder to get into a good or great college/university when you are starting from a fair to middling high school. Sometimes, we can’t afford to move to a better district. The rent or house price is too high. Sometimes we just need to work with where we are at.
You can STILL become a good candidate.
How do you do that? Here’s some ideas, parents:
Help your student know that ALL grades matter from day one. Don’t smurf around your first year. Even in PE, you can get a good grade by TRYING!
If your student will do the work, trying a harder class is a good idea. But, don’t load them down with 4 AP courses their sophomore year. Check the water temperature with one class in a subject they like and do well in. if that works, move forward. If not, regroup.
Make sure they do community service and interest clubs. But, don’t overload. The current thinking is more depth, less broad. Admissions is now leaning towards students who show growth in a direction or passion, not sampling the buffet of activities.
Help your student do well where they can, and learn where they don’t. I knew my future in biology was suspect when my dissected frog looked like a meatloaf casserole. Even the teacher had a hard time finding identifiable parts. That was a big hint from the universe.
Finally, just know you cannot control this part. Some universities may not have a favorable impression of your student’s high school. That happens. It could result in a rejection. That happens too. Life is full of these seemingly random yesses and nos. Some hurt more than others, that’s for sure.
The most important thing you DO control is helping your student be their best. The next is to help them lean towards their gifts, skills, and dreams. Often, that is a different path than we took.
May you help your little bird fly well into a promising future.
Until Next Time,
All My Best,
Bonnie Burkett
