<p>There are probably some 150-200 highly demanding high schools, private and public, where there is academic selection for entry and/or stringent grading policy. I’m sure the very top universities and colleges are well aware of them and consider that reality when evaluating ranking or GPA. </p>
<p>I’m sure Caltech, MIT and Columbia know that a 40%-percentile ranked student from Thomas Jefferson High, for instance, is on a very different context (all bright kids from Fairfax co.) than a student at a comprehensive high school. </p>