<p>Does where u go to high school affect ur admission into a college? It seems rather confusing to me. In my state, there is a system of specialized schools where the courses are definitely tougher than most of the "other" schools. Why would a person apply to a specialized school, other than an education, if it kills the chances of applying to a college? Does it do anything else or is it just established for personal gratification? A kid whose in an easier high school can attain a 99 avrg and a kid whose in one of those specialized schools can get an average of 90. The 99 kid coulda just cut all his classes and just convinced the teacher in someway to get that 99, while the 90 kid earned his grade by studying with great effort. So how can a college judge if ur really a 99 or a 90? Don't tell me that its the SAT, because that is Reading, Writing, and Math and I find, don't count this as an authority, that a lot of the questions are just plain stupid. It can't tell if a person is passionate about one thing or if he's really talented at it. An essay? Anybody can be hired to write an essay and I doubt the college officials will know. Interview? Few people are given one, in my belief. This is just a curiosity.</p>
<p>Colleges look for students to take a rigorous courseload during HS. While it is true that admissions are more forgiving if your HS doesn’t offer that many opportunities, that still doesn’t even out the impact. Furthermore, there may be an implicit expectation of students from HS poor in opportunities to seek them elsewhere such as in a community college or something like that.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the SATs, whilst not necessarily a great indicator of intelligence or academic success, isn’t something that a very average student to bluff his way through. I actually happen to believe that much of the test is very valid in terms of assessing parts of your academic performance. Which questions do you find “stupid?”</p>
<p>Interviews depend on your geographical location. If you live in a fairly major city, there are a pretty good chance that you will get some, but frankly, I don’t feel interviews matter too much at all…at least not for undergrad admissions.</p>
<p>Colleges definitely consider the rigor of your high school for admission. Schools send a report, often along with your transcript, detailing things like how/if they choose to rank students, how they calculate gpas, class opportunities, etc. That way colleges have a better understanding of how you got the grades you did and what they mean in context. So in the case you mentioned, a student who gets a 99 in a class at a more rigorous/difficult high school will be favored over a student who gets a 99 in a class at less rigorous school. Colleges want to see that students took advantage of the opportunities they were given at their school.</p>
<p>^Are you from NY by any chance?</p>
<p>lol Guess my ranting kinda isolates me. Yep. The SAT questions assume that u think only the way that u think. That is stupid.Im not saying that Im a genius to call them stupid, but there are some questions, particularly the grammar section, where there are quicker ways to answer the question. I don’t think that reading and math and grammar measures ur intellect or potential. Collegeboard acts as if it does. Another stupid thing. I guess the “stupid” is relative. What if the avrg student was a genius test taker? Then he gets really unjustifiable scores.</p>
<p>Nah, just going to school there. 
(And super excited about it!)</p>
<p>Good high schools can both work for and against you. Simply, there’s more competition for top colleges coming from a top high school and colleges don’t want too many from any school.</p>
<p>Then again, colleges do recognize kids from strong schools are well prepared.</p>