iDeltaStorm,
Every yr there are some candidates that will post on this site their gpa changed on their portal and no longer matches the transcript.
This occurs because the AFA re-weighted it to their stds. For some it will go up, for some it will go down, for some it will remain the same.
The same is true regarding how they look at your school. The GC's submit the school profile, and in it they tell the AFA the broad brush strokes of the school, plus the fine strokes too. Fine strokes are like the one Mike has stated. In NC our DS had a 4 block semester system, plus Jump Start. Students had the ability to take APs, but for some classes could only take them if they had already taken Honors. I.E. Had to take Bio Honors, and than later on you could take AP BIO. DD in VA had the choice Std, Honors or APBIO.
It would be unfair to ding the NC student because realistically they couldn't have AP BIO, CHEM and PHYS. because physically they couldn't do it from a scheduling perspective.
You will constantly hear/read people say I go to one of the top schools in the state, but the perspective of what a candidate considers competitive and what the academic world considers competitive or top can be 2 different things.
Top HS in your county is great, but what if you come from a state like FL, NJ, CA, TX, etc., and that school really isn't top in the state. Those lovely School of Excellence banners are nice, but don't confuse that with the school profiles in the state, and if you go over to NWL, nationally. All that banner means is X% passed the No Child Left Behind gateway tests. Big difference than being selected as a Blue Ribbon HS, or making the list on USNWR as 1 of the top 100 in the nation.
That is why the AFA tries to do everything in its power to equalize all of the schools across the country using the profile and the school will be placed into the equation.
You have absolute no control over this situation, and you should not think you are a shoe in because your HS is a top 100, and nor should you believe you are not going to be competitive if your school is considered the worst in the state.
For Ex: 4 yrs ago when DS went through the process, he attended according to county ranking the number 1 HS in the county, yet the only kid accepted to MIT within the county came from the lowest scoring school.
Point is not only will the SAs look at the profile, so do the very competitive colleges that you will use as Plan B. Every candidate should AIM HIGH, but they need to also remember that the SA's are not the only ones that use the school profile method regarding admissions. They just happen to be very transparent and upfront with applicants that this is a part of their selection system.
Good luck