Applying to College

At Carpinteria High School, all students are working toward the goal of being college and career ready upon graduation. There are 2,400+ four-year colleges and universities in the United States and they have varying levels of selectivity. Approximately 100 of them are considered “highly” selective. Another tier of colleges are considered “very” selective, then a huge number are ranked as simply “selective” and a final group is considered “non-selective.” The elements in a student’s profile that a college will evaluate in the selection procedure boil down to these things are listed in the order of their importance below:
The strength of the academic curriculum (how rigorous or hard is the curriculum a student is taking)?
How well did the student do in those courses (i.e. grades/GPA)?
What are the results on national tests (i.e. the SAT test or the ACT, the SAT Subject Tests, and the APs)?
Is the student involved in any kind of extracurricular activities (sports, school government, clubs, church groups, community groups, work)?
Letters of recommendation from a counselor and teachers.
Well-managed application (strong essay, where required, demonstrated interest in college, where applicable).

Advanced Placement

Carpinteria High School in partnership with Santa Barbara City College identifies courses our students can take on campus for dual enrollment credit.