College applications often contain a Secondary School Report, which is completed by the school counselor. This provides insight into the high school community, including where the school is located, the types of courses offered, the passing grade at the school, the highest GPA in the class, and more. If a school is offering a large number of honors and AP-level courses, then colleges will expect students from that school to have taken advantage of some, but not all, of the more rigorous courses.