Hello, I noticed that a lot of my friends in my school were applying to the exact same universities as me and was wondering if this would be a disadvantage to me and if I should apply to different schools.
Apply wherever you want to apply.
I would not worry about this too much. At big high schools many students apply to some of the same colleges.
Universities do not have a “quota” from each high school- most big public universities will have a set list of academic/testing hurdles you have to clear (GPA, SAT, etc) and the most selective colleges and LACs review your application holistically. However, while I do urge you not to stress about this (and you certainly should not change your entire list because of it), I would say that if a lot of applicants come from the same school the admissions office would be choosing the students who have shown the most leadership and who have the most rigorous schedule. Therefore, if the #1 rank student of your class who is a leader in a couple ECs applies to the same college as you, and you have a weak schedule and not much involvement (hypothetically) that could hurt you.
Apply where you want to apply - don’t worry about what others are doing. It’s common for students from the same high school to apply to many of the same schools. There’s no limit on the amount of kids from one school colleges accept and you may even have different adcoms viewing your app. It shouldn’t hurt you just because a lot of kids apply from your school.
thanks for the advice
First, you should have a good idea whether you qualify for your targets. That’s more than stats and what your ECs are. If you do have this broader understanding of the match, then you can, in theory, write your best app and supps.
Colleges say they don’t limit the number of admits from a hs, but it depends on how many apply from yours. And, the neighboring high schools, as well as those a little further, but still in your area. There can be another local hs that ordinarily gets more admitted than yours does. Or there can be a sleeper hs that suddenly produces some mighty fine applicants. Adcoms may want to add those kids and subtract a few from other hs.
So, do your best, but think about widening your list, in case.
Thanks for all the advice, we have about ten strong candidates from my school applying to each school I am interested. I rank in the top 4 of these candidates in terms of grades, scores and ec so I guess I will just apply to the schools I want.