<p>I just saw a typo in my post. It should read "he probably won’t get into a school where he has the median <i>SAT</i>.</p>
<p>As far as what sort of admissions % to look for, obviously, higher is better but I would aim to have some that admit over 50%. If you can find a college that admits a substantially higher % of applicants from your school than in general (assuming your school’s applicants are similar to the general applicant pool), you probably have a college that thinks favorably of your school’s curriculum. We have several colleges in the top 100 that have admited 80%-100% of our public school’s applicants. You have to keep searching to find those schools but often the guidance counselors push them.</p>