The College-Admissions Game -- What Happens Behind The Closed Doors As Admissions Officers Decide Whom To Welcome And Whom To Turn Away
The high school senior's grade-point average is nearly a B+. His SAT scores are a bit above norm.
He's a soccer player. Concert and marching band musician. Actor. Campus ministry volunteer.
No superstar, but a good kid and a solid, above-average student.
Indeed, he is much like the thousands of other bright contenders for a place at one of this state's most selective colleges.
So it helped that the young man from California seeking a thumbs up from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma distinguished himself in an on-campus interview last summer.
"He's a Michael Crichton and Stephen King fan. I think I've found a soul mate," Puget Sound admissions counselor Fred Capestany later wrote. "He struck me as a real mature, together, sharp, intellectual kind of kid."
The student also vowed that he wouldn't back away from a rigorous schedule senior year.
Smart idea.
But when the 10-member Puget Sound admissions committee met for three hours last month to decide the fates of 34 anxious applicants, the kid from California didn't draw raves.
For one thing, he hadn't kept his promise.
His transcript showed that instead, of taking precalculus and physics first semester senior year, he'd chosen soft courses like psychology and teacher's assistant.
"Man, I'm really disappointed by his file. He was so impressive during our meeting that I can't believe he's come across so weak," Capestany said. "What happened to the tough classes?"
The committee's verdict?
"Wait list."
Mr. Soul Mate turned Senior Slacker had landed himself on hold.
The road to admittance at top universities in Washington state grows a little steeper and more crowded every year.
At the most competitive schools - including Puget Sound, Whitman College, the University of Washington and Western Washington University - at least half and sometimes far more of the entering freshmen have a grade-point average (GPA) of at least 3.5 out of a possible 4 points.
It's bound to get harder.
Late last week, the Legislature did approve 2,625 new spaces for full-time students this fall at the state's four-year institutions. An undetermined number of those will go to freshmen. In the short run, that should make admissions a little easier at the top schools.
But in the coming years, an avalanche of children of baby boomers is expected to descend upon U.S. colleges. The increased demand, powered by the knowledge that education can make a giant difference in earning power, will make competition for freshmen spaces at top public and private institutions edge up even more.
So, who gets in and what's their secret?
Top-flight students are whisked through the door without hesitation. The Puget Sound committee oooed and ahhhed for all of about 40 seconds before giving an Oregon student a big, fat, enthusiastic A - as in "Yes, yes, yes, please come to our school!"
A perfect 4-point GPA. A combined score of 1350 out of a possible 1600 on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT). Class rank: 1 out of 312. Course work including advanced-placement English and calculus, physics, chemistry, beginning piano and keyboarding, constitutional law and psychology.
It's the bright average kids with a question mark - not the best, not the worst - who get the most scrutiny.
The admissions process differs from school to school.
"Privates" - like Puget Sound and Whitman - look beyond grades and test scores to essays and recommendation letters, leadership skills and artistic talent.
Mainly, that's because they aren't bound to a formula like the one used by the state's public universities.
In 1990, the state Higher Education Coordinating Board set minimum requirements - in the form of an index - for admission to each of the state's public four-year institutions. The index, a number from 1 to 100, is derived by combining high-school grades with admission-test scores, giving 75 percent weight to the GPA. Students must also take the required high-school courses.
The state allows 15 percent of a freshman class to be admitted with scores below a university's minimum index, a margin schools may use for students who are under-represented ethnic minorities, economically disadvantaged applicants, athletes, or students who have exceptional artistic talents.
The minimum index is 28 for the state's two research universities, the University of Washington and Washington State University. At the regional universities - Western, Eastern, Central and Evergreen - the minimum index is 13.
But being minimally qualified doesn't guarantee admission. In years of great demand, schools set their indexes for routine admission higher.
This year, the UW's "routine" admission index for in-state freshmen is 58 - the score you'd get if you had a 3.42 GPA and a combined SAT score of about 1,000.
Western Washington's index is 60 and Evergreen's is 44.
Eastern's routine admission index is 30. Washington State University admits everyone with a 28 or higher. Central's minimum index is now 18.
For the "routine-admit" students, the system "is really pretty transparent," says Tim Washburn, executive director of admissions and records at the UW. "If you meet the qualifications, you're in.
"You don't have to prove to us somehow that you have some unique characteristic or that your senior project was unusual. You don't have to produce a video, a play or a junior symphony."
It's expected that nearly 90 percent of those offered routine admission at the UW this year will have an index of 58.
It's the prospects whose indexes fall in the next tier - from 43 to 57 - who are subject to a more complex and personalized review-committee process.
Since more full-time slots just opened up for next academic year, the UW expects to be able to offer admission to a higher number of students through the freshman-review process.
Those who get below 43 are routinely denied unless they are considered for reasons of athletic talent, diversity or economic and educational disadvantage.
When the index is between 43 and 57, two "readers" at the UW review each academic record, tallying up points (a total of 23 points is possible) for specific criteria, such as:
-- Stringency of the high school's grading practices
-- Average academic course load
-- Quality of core courses
-- Rigor of senior year
-- GPA (recalculated to reflect only core courses)
-- Grade trends
-- Any exceptional artistic or scholastic accomplishments
"Our message back to them through this process is the courses you take do make a difference," Washburn says. "Unless you're a very good student with very good grades and very high test scores, we are going to scrutinize the courses you take. So don't trade off high grades for easy courses, because it's not going to work to your advantage."
At Western Washington, a smaller school with fewer applicants, every application is read, no matter what its admission index.
"We look at everyone. We give students the benefit of the doubt," says Western's admissions director, Karen Copetas.
Students who are not routinely admitted based on the index at Western are placed in four categories: admit and three others from strongest to weakest. With more new slots for students, Western hopes to be able to accept more freshmen than anticipated for next fall from its holding categories.
On the back of its application, WWU invites students to write about their leadership, community volunteerism, multicultural experience and personal hardship or special circumstances.
"We've been surprised. Most students are sending us information about who they are, how their heart beats, what their passions are," Copetas says.
What colleges look for
No matter how they go about it, every highly selective institution in the state is after the same basic qualities.
First, there should be a logical relationship between grades and test scores.
Grades are an indication of performance and test scores of academic horsepower, says George Mills, vice president for enrollment at Puget Sound.
"A student who tests very well and does not perform well is a student who from our perspective is going to have some difficulty in the classroom."
Washburn at the UW agrees: "The riskiest student is the higher-scoring student with the poor GPA."
Many times these students coast through high school without having learned to study, he says. When they hit a more demanding environment like the UW, "they don't know time management, how to analyze or critically read."
Such a student recently applied to Puget Sound well aware that her awesome SATs - a 740 verbal and 790 math out of a possible 800 - were sabotaged by a 2.57 GPA.
She tried to bail herself out in the essay.
"Rome wasn't built in a day. Though I have already made changes there is much work to be done. . . . I am trying to teach myself discipline. No easy task for someone who has been a slacker for as long as I have."
The Puget Sound committee was dubious, but asked for her grades from this year's first semester, almost out of curiosity to see how Rome was coming along.
Grade trends also are taken very seriously.
Woe be the student who bursts out of freshman year with A's and B's and then straggles to the finish with B's and C's.
"I'd rather see a student who's struggled and picked up steam. Who has the oomph behind them rather than a student who has the ability but is tapering off," says Peter Jones, associate director of admissions at Puget Sound.
Diversity and any kind of multicultural experience also are valued.
Thus, a Japanese-American applicant was admitted to Western this spring even though his 2.73 GPA and 970 SAT were way below the school's averages.
What tipped things in his favor?
For six hours every Saturday, the American-born student attended a Japanese school so he could become bilingual and bicultural.
"That was something that really helped this student's application," says Copetas. "We think he can really add to the entire environment here."
A person also doesn't have to be an ethnic minority to develop a multicultural experience. Another Western applicant who is Caucasian and has a 2.8 GPA was accepted because she chose to live a year in Thailand gaining fluency in the language.
It can also matter where you went to high school.
Admissions officers hear it all the time: "You know I go to a really good private high school and it's really challenging."
Translated: "I'm better than any public-school students even though my record may be weak."
Not necessarily. If students don't take advantage of the special academic programs and extracurricular activities good private schools offer, it can be their downfall, "because they've had this big smorgasbord in front of them and they've just nibbled at it," says Mills from Puget Sound.
At schools like Puget Sound even your parents' background can make a difference.
Take the case of one Washington senior whose transcript came before the school's admissions committee.
"Let me give you senior courses," said the admissions counselor. "Speech. Pottery. Women's weights. Precalculus. Sociology. Spanish III."
And, she said, there was another element, one that would suggest the student ought to have had higher academic ambitions: Both parents are educators.
The admissions committee let out a big "ohhhhh."
The student's 3.7 GPA was high. But her test scores were "very modest."
Typically, students from her high school take accelerated courses and have higher test scores.
"A pitiful senior year . . ." one reviewer wrote - especially with parents who understand education.
Reluctantly, deny.
On the other hand, the parents' background can be a plus: If Mom and Dad are first-generation immigrants, say, it can explain why the application essay isn't grammatically up to par. Maybe English isn't spoken in the home.
By the way, that personal essay can really trip up a scholar.
"Our nation's history has been eventful. There has been several wars and several treaties," wrote one student to Puget Sound.
". . . Without the victory in World War II our nation would be in economic and political dismay."
Dismay?
Some students are naive enough to think, says Mills, that "the moral thing to do is submit an essay that they have done themselves and no one else has reviewed.
"That might be moral, but it's also stupid."
Even how the application is filled out can influence one's chances.
Copetas at Western recalls one student who didn't list his courses, sign the application on the back or send in the right amount for the fee.
Western requested all that. The student wrote back: "I thought my counselor was going to do it for me."
"I just had to smile," says Copetas. "Your counselor was going to sign your name for you?"
Plan before senior year
Certainly, the college-admissions process is subject to human frailty and biases.
Admissions officers, who are experts at reading between long lines of baloney, can sometimes sound jaded and flip.
But they also lie awake nights worrying about what's fair and try hard to level the playing field for candidates who've had unusual opportunities or unusual obstacles in life.
In the end, however, asserts Washburn, it's not admissions people who admit students.
"Students admit themselves. It's the decisions that students and families make throughout high school that decide whether they're going to be admitted or not.
"It's not something that happens in senior year. It's not something when you're filing your application. It's not how you write your package. It's what you have done educationally for the first three years of high school that will really determine whether or not you're admissible."
Most of the time. But every year a certain number of so-called late bloomers are accepted into this state's most selective schools.
A wonderful essay, pure determination or even luck can do the trick.
So it went for another senior from California who applied to Puget Sound, this time a "very hard worker," but "not an incredibly bright kid."
With less than a 3.0 GPA throughout high school and average SATs, he was a football player, student body vice president, disc jockey at the school radio station and volunteer in Temple.
Last summer, he visited the campus and attended a Puget Sound information session in his hometown. His interview went well. Then, both he and his mother anxiously phoned more than once to say he wanted in very badly.
To prove it, he suddenly turned on that "oomph" first semester senior year racking up A's and B's in tough courses like physics, precalculus, contemporary literature and French.
"He's working hard," said Peter Jones to his peers in the Puget Sound admissions committee last month. "He's working hard knowing this is where he wants to be and he's going to have to continue to work hard and he's a great kid."
Admit.
------------------------------------- Dos and don'ts of college application -------------------------------------
Here are some tips for students who want to have the best shot at the college of their choice.
-- Don't panic and give up before you start. It is competitive getting in, but colleges look at more than outstanding numbers. Apply to schools that are a good academic and personal fit and aim to convince them you have something unique to offer.
-- Do take rigorous courses in high school starting in your freshman year. Don't shy away from advanced placement, international baccalaureate and honors courses: A "B" in a challenging course can help you more than an "A" in a routine class.
-- Do not, repeat do not, slack off senior year.
-- Do develop your passions and create an identity by doing so.
-- Do learn as much as you can about colleges in this state. Visit campuses; take advantage of local interviews.
-- Do score well on the Scholastic Assessment Test. Taking it twice is a good idea.
-- Don't give up if you're struggling with difficult courses. Persistence is very important and will be noticed.
-- Do fill out the application correctly.
-- If you are asked to write an essay, do take time to make it thoughtful and original. Then have someone reliable proofread it for logic, grammar and spelling.
-- Do collect personal recommendations that reveal the real you and document any exceptional talents.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Tips provided by admission administrators at the University of Puget Sound, the University of Washington, Western Washington University and Whitman College. ------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------ HOW UW EVALUATES HIGH-SCHOOL GRADING ------------------------------------
As part of its admissions process, the University of Washington conducts a yearly study of the grading practices of high schools in the state that send students to the UW.
For each school, the admissions office calculates the average of the grade-point averages of all seniors enrolled in the UW over five years and compare it to the students' first-year GPA at the UW, also averaged over five years.
The study is not intended to rank high schools or describe how well they educate students. What it can indicate is how a 3.0 at one school stacks up against a 3.0 at another by showing how students from different schools have performed once they're all at the same university.
The UW uses the results two ways:
-- In routine admissions, it makes a GPA adjustment for students from the toughest-grading schools in the state. (This year, that includes the first 14 schools.)
-- Then, in taking a closer look at students who don't qualify for automatic admission but who are considered prospects for the UW, it counts the toughness of the high school's grading as one of a number of criteria that earn a student points toward admission. Students from schools in the top third of the list - the toughest grading - get 3 points; the next group gets 2 points; and those from the bottom third get 1 point.
High Change Number
school UW in of
High school GPA GPA GPA students
----------- ------ --- ------ --------
3 POINTS
Grandview 2.84 2.86 +0.02 8
Charles Wright Academy 3.21 3.20 -0.01 30 .
Lakeside School 3.17 3.03 -0.15 76
Winlock 3.72 3.51 -0.21 7 .
Bush School 3.24 3.02 -0.22 25
St. John/Endicott 3.96 3.73 -0.22 5 .
Nova Alternative School 3.11 2.84 -0.26 11
Pullman 3.52 3.23 -0.29 42 .
Anacortes 3.52 3.22 -0.30 35
Prosser 3.40 3.08 -0.32 11 .
Othello 3.24 2.91 -0.33 5
Summit K-12 School 3.51 3.17 -0.34 6 .
Lynden Christian School 3.64 3.28 -0.36 12
Lynden 3.69 3.32 -0.36 7 .
Tenino 3.63 3.26 -0.37 6
Olympia (W. W. Miller) 3.56 3.18 -0.38 88 .
Orcas Island 3.65 3.25 -0.39 10
Liberty Bell 3.65 3.26 -0.39 6 .
Naches Valley 3.84 3.44 -0.39 8
Goldendale 3.63 3.23 -0.40 15 .
Northwest School 3.56 3.16 -0.40 9
Woodland 3.60 3.19 -0.41 11 .
Newport 3.55 3.14 -0.41 315
Kamiakin 3.54 3.13 -0.41 44 .
Bainbridge 3.47 3.06 -0.42 111
Stanwood 3.52 3.09 -0.42 27 .
Port Townsend 3.56 3.14 -0.42 8
Steilacoom 3.48 3.05 -0.42 17 .
Ellensburg 3.51 3.08 -0.43 12
Roosevelt 3.41 2.98 -0.43 213 .
Vashon Island 3.48 3.05 -0.43 44
Charles F. Adams 3.53 3.10 -0.43 15 .
Granite Falls 3.66 3.23 -0.43 5
Blanchet 3.45 3.02 -0.43 168 .
Port Angeles 3.56 3.12 -0.44 46
Oliver M. Hazen 3.39 2.95 -0.44 97 .
Mount Baker 3.69 3.24 -0.44 14
Mercer Island 3.55 3.10 -0.45 227 .
Lakewood 3.61 3.15 -0.45 7
Columbia (White Salmon) 3.59 3.13 -0.45 80 .
Bellingham 3.54 3.08 -0.46 63
Columbia River 3.57 3.11 -0.46 59 .
Franklin 3.26 2.80 -0.46 152
Nathan Hale 3.44 2.98 -0.46 118 .
University Prep Academy 3.42 2.96 -0.46 12
Seattle Prep/Mateo Ricci 3.41 2.94 -0.47 112 .
Bellevue 3.54 3.07 -0.47 272
Burlington-Edison 3.55 3.08 -0.47 18 .
North Kitsap 3.46 2.98 -0.47 57
Kelso 3.40 2.92 -0.48 25 .
Camas 3.64 3.16 -0.48 14
Stadium 3.40 2.93 -0.48 54 .
Meadowdale 3.45 2.97 -0.48 109
Gig Harbor 3.58 3.10 -0.48 72 .
Interlake 3.54 3.05 -0.49 188
Renton 3.36 2.87 -0.49 87 .
Arlington 3.47 2.97 -0.50 21
Sequim 3.68 3.17 -0.51 22 .
Mark Morris 3.52 3.01 -0.51 33
Bellarmine Prep School 3.43 2.92 -0.52 115 .
Prairie 3.68 3.16 -0.52 47
Shorecrest 3.55 3.03 -0.52 190 .
Sammamish 3.55 3.03 -0.52 216
Sehome 3.55 3.02 -0.52 88 .
Okanogan 3.44 2.92 -0.52 5
Kentwood 3.57 3.04 -0.52 112 .
Redmond 3.57 3.04 -0.53 332
Mount Rainier 3.57 3.04 -0.53 79 .
Hanford Education Park 3.57 3.04 -0.53 87
Walla Walla 3.65 3.12 -0.53 38 .
Mount Vernon 3.57 3.03 -0.54 45
Capital High 3.56 3.02 -0.54 117 .
Ingraham 3.47 2.93 -0.54 135
Eisenhower 3.48 2.94 -0.54 59 .
Fort Vancouver 3.60 3.06 -0.54 46
Selah 3.66 3.12 -0.54 15 .
Shorewood 3.45 2.91 -0.54 212
Holy Names Academy 3.45 2.91 -0.54 49 .
2 POINTS
Kentridge 3.55 3.01 -0.55 238 .
Everett 3.57 3.02 -0.55 59
Edmonds/Woodway 3.44 2.89 -0.55 55 .
Ballard 3.38 2.83 -0.55 84
Lewis & Clark 3.61 3.05 -0.55 106 .
Clover Park 3.46 2.90 -0.55 95
Auburn Adventist Academy 3.65 3.09 -0.56 12 .
Battle Ground 3.57 3.01 -0.56 32
Mountain View 3.63 3.07 -0.56 82 .
Puyallup 3.52 2.96 -0.56 82
Snohomish 3.54 2.97 -0.56 110 .
Cashmere 3.68 3.11 -0.57 8
Hudsons Bay 3.54 2.96 -0.57 46 .
Federal Way 3.52 2.95 -0.57 155
South Whidbey 3.56 2.98 -0.57 34 .
Cascade 3.71 3.14 -0.58 6
Gonzaga Prep School 3.54 2.95 -0.58 93 .
Inglemoor 3.61 3.03 -0.58 210
Montesano 3.53 2.94 -0.59 11 .
Woodinville 3.58 2.99 -0.59 213
South Kitsap 3.51 2.92 -0.59 87 .
Timberline 3.52 2.93 -0.59 54
Lake Stevens 3.53 2.94 -0.60 42 .
West Seattle 3.51 2.91 -0.60 76
Lakes 3.55 2.94 -0.60 79 .
Highline 3.62 3.01 -0.61 99
Henry Foss 3.43 2.83 -0.61 88 .
Tyee 3.73 3.12 -0.61 24
Mead 3.58 2.97 -0.61 98 .
Garfield 3.40 2.79 -0.61 161
R. A. Long 3.65 3.04 -0.61 35 .
Deer Park 3.48 2.86 -0.62 8
Lake Roosevelt 3.45 2.83 -0.62 9 .
King's 3.58 2.96 -0.62 37
Bothell 3.60 2.98 -0.62 167 .
Wenatchee 3.65 3.03 -0.62 64
Joel E. Ferris 3.65 3.02 -0.63 77 .
Thomas Jefferson 3.57 2.94 -0.63 90
Cleveland 3.56 2.93 -0.63 103 .
Annie Wright School 3.35 2.71 -0.63 9
Seattle Lutheran 3.45 2.81 -0.63 12 .
Nooksack Valley 3.52 2.89 -0.63 7
Central Kitsap 3.60 2.96 -0.64 94 .
Central Valley 3.59 2.95 -0.64 52
Washougal 3.65 3.01 -0.64 8 .
Cheney 3.59 2.95 -0.64 20
Forest Ridge 3.34 2.70 -0.64 17 .
Toledo 3.40 2.76 -0.64 7
Jenkins 3.58 2.94 -0.64 5 .
Monroe 3.65 3.00 -0.64 43
Issaquah 3.60 2.96 -0.65 189 .
Toutle Lake 3.91 3.27 -0.65 6
Tumwater 3.56 2.91 -0.65 30 .
Omak 3.60 2.95 -0.65 24
North Thurston 3.59 2.93 -0.65 68 .
Centralia 3.58 2.92 -0.66 18
Blaine 3.65 2.99 -0.66 17 .
West Valley (Spokane) 3.69 3.02 -0.66 37
Colville 3.61 2.94 -0.67 17 .
Ferndale 3.64 2.97 -0.67 32
Sunnyside 3.41 2.74 -0.67 24 .
Lake Washington 3.63 2.97 -0.67 304
Wahkiakum 3.53 2.86 -0.67 5 .
Eastside Catholic 3.48 2.81 -0.67 70
Cascade (Everett) 3.62 2.94 -0.67 193 .
North Beach 3.86 3.19 -0.68 5
Liberty (Renton) 3.69 3.01 -0.68 108 .
East Valley (Spokane) 3.55 2.87 -0.68 21
Olympic 3.60 2.92 -0.68 134 .
Decatur 3.53 2.84 -0.69 200
Foster 3.55 2.86 -0.69 27 .
Shadle Park 3.71 3.02 -0.69 43
Mountlake Terrace 3.61 2.92 -0.69 95 .
Auburn 3.59 2.90 -0.69 132
Juanita 3.63 2.93 -0.69 248 .
Mariner 3.54 2.85 -0.69 204
1 POINT
Sedro-Woolley 3.68 2.98 -0.70 16 .
West Valley (Yakima) 3.72 3.02 -0.70 18
Aberdeen 3.56 2.86 -0.70 20 .
University 3.60 2.90 -0.70 58
Reardan 3.70 3.00 -0.71 9 .
Shelton 3.74 3.03 -0.71 29
Overlake School 3.17 2.46 -0.71 11 .
Charles A. Lindbergh 3.47 2.76 -0.72 100
Evergreen (Vancouver) 3.58 2.86 -0.72 111 .
Curtis 3.65 2.93 -0.72 124
J. F. Kennedy Memorial 3.56 2.85 -0.72 136 .
Wilbur 3.75 3.03 -0.72 8
Gov. J. R. Rogers 3.60 2.88 -0.72 94 .
Bellevue Christian 3.38 2.65 -0.72 30
Friday Harbor 3.64 2.92 -0.72 15 .
Kalama 3.54 2.81 -0.73 5
Ilwaco 3.72 2.99 -0.73 11 .
O'Dea 3.34 2.61 -0.73 68
Sealth 3.53 2.80 -0.73 62 .
Ephrata 3.79 3.06 -0.74 16
Eastmont 3.73 2.99 -0.74 30 .
Colfax 3.66 2.92 -0.74 9
Bremerton 3.63 2.88 -0.74 55 .
Adna 3.86 3.11 -0.74 5
Wilson 3.60 2.85 -0.75 74 .
Davis 3.50 2.75 -0.75 25
Lynnwood 3.66 2.91 -0.76 88 .
Marysville-Pilchuck 3.65 2.89 -0.76 74
Hoquiam 3.82 3.05 -0.77 10 .
North Central 3.65 2.88 -0.77 42
Evergreen (Seattle) 3.53 2.75 -0.78 127 .
Bethel 3.64 2.86 -0.78 36
Seattle Christian 3.72 2.93 -0.78 10 .
Castle Rock 3.66 2.88 -0.78 13
Waterville 3.59 2.80 -0.79 7 .
Kent Meridian 3.62 2.83 -0.79 97
Stevenson 3.52 2.73 -0.79 6 .
Mount Si 3.57 2.78 -0.79 36
Quincy 3.69 2.89 -0.80 10 .
Tahoma 3.59 2.79 -0.80 52
Ritzville 3.84 3.04 -0.80 5 .
Watson Groen Christian 3.58 2.77 -0.81 6
White Pass 3.48 2.67 -0.82 7 .
Seattle Acad Arts, Sciences 3.17 2.35 -0.82 5
Kettle Falls 3.42 2.60 -0.82 6 .
W. F. West 3.53 2.71 -0.82 21
Toppenish 3.57 2.75 -0.82 15 .
Enumclaw 3.62 2.79 -0.83 54
Ridgefield 3.68 2.84 -0.84 9 .
Oak Harbor 3.57 2.73 -0.84 59
Manson 3.58 2.74 -0.84 7 .
Coupeville 3.60 2.76 -0.84 5
Peninsula 3.65 2.79 -0.85 38 .
Fife 3.64 2.79 -0.86 30
John R. Rogers 3.60 2.73 -0.87 23 .
Pasco Senior 3.63 2.76 -0.87 17
White River 3.68 2.81 -0.87 17 .
Mount Tahoma 3.68 2.80 -0.88 13
Moses Lake 3.60 2.72 -0.88 29 .
Spanaway Lake 3.57 2.68 -0.89 47
North Mason 3.65 2.75 -0.90 18 .
Highland 3.57 2.67 -0.90 13
Washington 3.47 2.56 -0.90 27 .
Eatonville 3.66 2.75 -0.91 12
Cedarcrest (formerly Tolt) 3.59 2.67 -0.92 28 .
Chelan 3.61 2.70 -0.92 10
Kennewick 3.58 2.66 -0.92 18 .
Franklin Pierce 3.70 2.76 -0.94 24
Rainier Beach 3.53 2.57 -0.97 93 .
Elma 3.34 2.35 -0.99 6
Forks 3.87 2.88 -0.99 9 .
Yelm 3.70 2.70 -1.00 10
Connell 3.40 2.37 -1.03 7 .
Wapato 3.57 2.51 -1.07 17
Sumner 3.63 2.54 -1.09 27 .
Lincoln 3.35 2.26 -1.09 19
Columbia (Burbank) 3.72 2.57 -1.14 9 .
All Wash. high schools 3.55 2.95 -0.59 13,678 .