This week, I received a letter from Monique, a young woman in French high school who is applying to U.S. universities. Monique told me that her high school is very rigorous and only accepts top students, which means that there is a lot of competition to earn the highest grades. “Will admission officers know this about my school?” she asked me. “And, if not, can I tell them?”

When American students apply to college, each admission office receives not only a high school “transcript” (a record of all classes taken and grades received) but also, with it, a “School Profile.”

This is a document published by almost every high school that includes:

ACADEMIC INFORMATION

-Courses offered, including availability of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Honors, Accelerated, etc.

-The grading system + how Grade Point Averages are calculated

-The class ranking system–if any

-Post high-school plans: What percentage of students attend 4-year colleges? 2-year colleges? Which colleges specifically, do they attend?

The most helpful profiles also explain course selection policies or schedule restrictions that affect them (Example: “Students cannot take two Advanced Placement sciences in the same school year.”)

SCHOOL DEMOGRAPHICS

-Admissions policy (e.g., Do students take a test or enter a lottery to enroll? Is admissions selective or simply based on residence?)

-School size

-Racial and ethnic breakdown

-Socioeconomic breakdown

COMMUNITY DEMOGRAPHICS

-A description of the city, town, neighborhood where the school is located. What is the average household income? What is average the level of parent education?

Here are a couple samples of real school profiles:

http://www.wjcc.k12.va.us/content/programs/guidance/hs-profiles/Profile%20JHS.pdf

http://pages.cms.k12.nc.us/vance/profile.html

Some school profiles are more comprehensive than others and are thus more useful to admission officers. Here, Northwestern University admission officials present a “Wish-List” of information they would like to see on all School Profiles:

http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/counselors/hsprofile/

As an international applicant to U.S. colleges, your high school may not publish a school profile. So you can help college admission officials by providing this information for them .. or asking a school administrator to do so. The transcript that your school sends to colleges should include a “Key” or “Legend” that explains the course levels and grading system. But you would be wise to ask for a copy to be sure that the explanations are clear to someone outside of your school … or your country.

You should also make sure that colleges are aware that your school is highly selective or rigorous–if, in fact, it is. Conversely, if your school is a very poor one where few students pursue higher education and many leave school before graduation, colleges will want to know this, too. (And it will not work against you … in fact, it can work in your favor once admission officials see that you have overcome obstacles to pursue a college education.)

Use the Northwestern U. “Wish-List,” above, to see what else you can tell U.S. colleges about your high school that might assist them as they review your credentials.

When U.S. admission officials evaluate their applicants, they do so in the context of their background, and the high school each applicant attends is a critical part of this background. So don’t hesitate to provide as much helpful information as possible. You can even send a photograph along, if you think that “one picture is worth a thousand words.”