<p>People on here often remark that they go to a “rigorous” high school… How do you tell? What’s the average SAT for a “good” high school? Is it how smart the student body is or how hard the classes are/ how hard it is to get a good gpa? What’s a good average SAT score in the context of college admissions?</p>
<p>How competitive are the students. Is the top ten in class going to to 100 colleges
Average Sat and act are around the 75th percentile. Also is the GPA deflated?</p>
<p>How could you determine if the average gpa is deflated?</p>
<p>Well, what is the average GPA. If it is higher than say 3.3 then it probably is not deflatd</p>
<p>It would probably be best to look at a published report of the school’s profile.</p>
<p>Reviews and matriculation. Here we have the very extensive Good School’s Guide published every few years, I don’t know if you have anything similar.</p>
<p>How difficult are the courses offered? It would probably depend on student’s average GPA, average school ACT/SAT Score, and courses. Most schools offer no AP classes while many high schools offer several. According to the College Board these were the average SAT scores for the Class of 2012: </p>
<p>Critical reading:496
Mathematics: 514
Writing: 488</p>
<p>It usually depends on how the high school is ranked nationally (I.e. is it in the top 100? 500? 1000?), how high the average statistics of the graduating classes typically are, what kind of programs does the school offer (is it IB? How many APs are offered? What percentage of students take AP tests? What percentage get above 3 or 4 on those tests?), and finally is it a magnet school, college preparatory, military, private, or general public school?</p>
<p>I’d say it is rigorous when As or even Bs are scarcely given. Though this is pretty rare, since if a school lacks a widely known reputation for hard grading and is stingy with high marks, then it ends up messing up their students’ chances for colleges. Anyways, I consider my last private school to be rigorous, for example, in my Chinese course, the highest grade was a B-, and that was from a girl who seemed she could speak it fluently. I also recall my English teacher telling the class that it has been a few years since someone achieved an A in his course. And this is a school where the vast majority of students take AP tests and go on to 4-year colleges.</p>
<p>Rigor, when used in college admissions, is usually referring to how inflated/deflated the GPA is compared to other high schools as well as how difficult the coursework is. If you attend a school that is considered rigorous, then that usually signifies some amount of GPA deflation and as a result, applicants with lower GPAs from these schools will be cut some slack compared to those who don’t attend a rigorous school.</p>
<p>Typically you don’t have to worry about whether or not your school is rigorous or not. Colleges will typically have a profile of each high school to determine this, and if your school is a bit more under the radar, then they can look in the context of your school’s average tests scores and other statistics.</p>
<p>Generally, I’d consider any school to score an average in the 75th percentile to be rigorous, so about 1700+ SAT or 24+ ACT.</p>