Thanks, Bostonian. This is the most detail I have read about what is actually being used to determine the score.
Personally, I think the data points about the high school are really important. We are very aware that our school environment was a huge advantage. There are lots of offerings, they are essentially available to any student, and very well-taught. Kids do well on testing here, and not just the exceptional kids. The peer group, while not always a perfect fit for our kids, was an advantage as well. We know this, and frankly it is hard to read stories of kids who just don’t have the courses available, or who can’t take them because of some capricious policy or other obstacle. They have a disadvantage at the point of admission, but also when they actually matriculate. This is why we put up with a school that had so many frustrations, honestly.
I guess I am surprised that this information is not already known to colleges- I know counselors have to submit a school profile, but maybe this metric is not as good as it sounds? We have been in college info sessions where the presenter asked the room how many people had read their high school’s profile, and we were in a striking minority- many people seemed not to know the term. Which makes me think maybe the schools or counselors aren’t really taking it very seriously, It should be available data, but maybe it’s not being done well. Or maybe people just don’t want to be made aware of their relative privilege.
