So who do I get compared against?

egreen
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:03:31 +0000

I am in a bit of an odd situation. I’ve already applied to various T20 colleges and two safeties, but I am a bit curious as to who I am competing against.

From my understanding, top colleges compare students from high schools of comparable difficulty/rigor. For example, prep school students compete against other prep school students etc. But who am I compared against?

I come from a blue collar town where the graduation rate is around 50%, so my parents chose not to enroll me in the public hs. I am, sort of, a home schooled student. As far as classes go, I have a wide variety of academics going through calculus based physics and differential equations at local community colleges.

In terms of rigor I will have completed the highest level math/science courses offered at community colleges. Upon graduation I will have enough college credits to be considered a junior at a state university.

For local comparison there is an umbrella school that I am enrolled through where I am ranked number one, but only roughly 50% of the students in this school attend college at all, so I’m not sure being number one at that school makes any difference. I am also enrolled through an accredited distance learning program that does not rank, but I have been informed that I am in the top 10%, but again, does this really carry any weight?

So am I competing against other home schooled students? As far as I know, my situation is fairly unique. For example, I have been involved in scientific research successfully (ISEF participant), but my research did not involve a mentor of any kind.

I have various awards, but I have not been involved in anything like a chess team or debate team, and I haven’t had the opportunity to be a part of something like USAMO, so there is not an easy comparison between me and other students in my area or the country. That leaves test scores where I did well, but certainly not as well as some other students applying to T20 universities. So are test scores the only reasonable way to compare me to other students, and if so, whose test scores am I competing against?

I know that to be successful in the college admission process I need to stand out among my piers, I just haven’t figured out who they are. So who do I get compared against?