Sh*t Your Teenagers Won’t Tell You

What Is a School Profile? How Colleges Use It in Admissions (and Why Parents Should Care)

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The school profile is an essential document that provides the context, rigor, and strategic insight needed to build a smart, effective college application list. Join Cathy and Meredith for another episode of Sh*t Your Teenagers Won’t Tell You as they break down everything you need to know about the school profile — what it is, how college admissions use it, and why understanding it matters. They also share tips on reading transcripts, which GPA to focus on, and why no amount of extracurriculars can distract from a funky transcript.

Key Points From This Episode:

  • [0:00:50] A proviso for today’s episode.
  • [0:01:20] Today's topic: The School Profile (what the heck is that?)
  • [0:03:00] How the school profile is used by college admissions.
  • [0:07:10] Understanding grades within schools and the lack of ranking.
  • [0:08:30] Why it’s important to know ranking and distribution when making a college list.
  • [0:10:00] The materials schools send to colleges on behalf of students.
  • [0:10:48] A note on transcripts and which GPA to look at.
  • [0:13:00] Why students want to have information, the data set, and a strategy for finding the right matches.
  • [0:14:20] Final notes on the school profile, where to find it, and why you want to understand it before building a school list. 

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    Sh*t Your Teenagers Won’t Tell YouBy Cathy Chen
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