High School Profiles 

When students want to know more about a school, when admission counselors are preparing for a visit, when a community member is seeking to understand the area schools, where do they turn?

More than likely, they seek a guidance counselor. A useful resource in a counseling office, therefore, is the school profile. NACAC has provided links to some sample school profiles below.

If you are starting from scratch, here are a few suggestions for creating your own school profile.

• List all the contact information for the school and the counseling office, as well as the CEEB/ACT code number, in a clear and easy to find way. It is helpful to list guidance/college counselors’ direct lines and email addresses.

• Provide a brief overview of the school including the mission statement, history and any distinguishing features. Make sure to describe the type of community your school serves. Do several towns send students to the school?  Does the school serve only part of a community? Is it independent, a magnet, public, or parochial? Was it founded for a particular purpose?

• Describe the student body and the demographic information of the school, including statistics on students’ ethnicity, gender, etc. Be as detailed as possible including the number of students on free or reduced lunch (if applicable), how many languages are spoken in the school community, etc.

• Outline the academic experience of the student body. Include information about faculty (how many teachers/teacher-to-student ratio, number of faculty that hold advanced degrees, etc.), curriculum (how many and which Honors/AP/IB courses, graduation requirements, restrictions on student choices), average class size, grading system (numeric or alpha, weighted or un-weighted), and ranking system.

• Highlight any unusual programs or initiatives that make your school stand out academically (such as a service learning requirement, co-op, internship program, senior thesis, capstone project, etc.). Also note unusual courses or clarify what is taught in courses where it might not be obvious (ex., “Advanced Math Topics”). Present unique aspects of the school, ranging from easily describable curricular features, student life opportunities and honor programs.

• Indicate if the school does not rank or provide GPA. Some schools may choose to publish grade distribution, GPA distribution or deciles to help explain how a student compares to his/her classmates, even if the school does not rank. 

• Explain different degree tracks, requirements for each and the minimum graduation requirements.

• Include opportunities for non-traditional students, such as transfer students, co-op students, special education students, or ESL students.
  
  
• Highlight college admission results.
  
  
• Provide information about standardized test scores. Note that NACAC’s Statement of Principles of Good Practice (SPGP) stipulates that schools should “report, in the case of secondary schools, the middle 50 percent of all students tested by discrete grade level.”  (SPGP Best Practices, Article III.A.12.)
  
  
• Remember: High School profiles serve various purposes. They should primarily be a guide for an admission officer to understand a student’s transcript, a tool to facilitate learning about the academic and social context of an applicant and a chance to familiarize an admission officer with an applicant’s community. High school profiles may also be used by students and their parents, administrators, superintendents, and even real estate agents and other outside agencies. So, when designing or re-designing a profile, it is important to keep various constituencies in mind.
  
  
• Many counselors suggest limiting the profile to two double-sided pages. Make it clear and easy to read. Limit photos.  Make a copy of the profile to ensure that it is easily faxed (if necessary) and scanned (for universities that now read applications electronically). When possible, avoid inserts. Standard paper size is helpful. Folders, tri-folds, folds, and staples can slow down processing in an admission office.
   
• When deciding what to include, note: NACAC’s Statement of Principles of Good Practice (SPGP) Best Practices, Article III.A.10 states that secondary schools “should provide a school profile, when applicable, that clearly describes special curricular opportunities (e.g., honors, advanced placement courses, seminars) and a comprehensive listing of all courses with an explanation of unusual abbreviations and any information required for proper understanding.”
   
• Get ideas from other schools – and consider sharing your own profile with others (see below). Every school is different and an individual school, district, parent, and student politics may make some tips more helpful or more challenging.