A school profile is a fact sheet about an individual high school. If a profile is available, the college counseling or guidance office will include this document as part of a student’s application to the University of Virginia.

Colleges and universities—including U.Va.—use an applicant’s school profile to learn more about a school’s course offerings, curriculum rigor and grade distribution. School profiles can also provide information about the school and local community, extracurricular activities and special programs. This information allows admission officers to better understand the applicants within the context of their school and community.

“At U.Va., we are looking for applicants with a very rigorous high school curriculum,” says Greg Roberts, dean of admission. “When analyzing an applicant’s transcript, we first look at the school profile to note all of the classes that are offered in ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th grades. Then we will review the student’s transcript to determine which higher-level courses were selected of those offered at the school.” Admission deans understand, though, that some schools may limit the number of rigorous courses a student can take or that there may be certain “tracks” that students have to follow to enroll in the most rigorous classes, Roberts says.

If the school profile does not offer this information, there are other methods of determining the rigor of a student’s curriculum. It is not uncommon for a dean to visit a school’s website or call the school counselor to learn more about the curriculum, grading policies or other relevant information.

To learn more about the school profile and other information that it provides in the admission process, watch the video on the Admission Liaison home page, http://www.alumni.virginia.edu/admission/liaison/default.aspx.

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