Morning! I am a technical high school student in Massachusetts and wondered if that may be a disadvantage for my future college applications (particularly elite institutions!). For context, my school only offers (I believe 2-3 AP Courses) and are only accessible junior and senior years 
. My school greatly emphasizes career and technical opportunities but I find myself having to poke deeper into the dirt in order to find those rare academic opportunities! My GPA is fine and Iām taking the highest credited courses offered for my grade level, which compared to other high schools, is not a lot. If there are any other students who are currently attending or graduated from a vocational high, Iād really love to hear your side!
The big question that comes to mind is why are you at a technical high school if your goal is to go to elite colleges. I assume that at some point you made a decision to attend that school, rather than the regular high school. Have you changed your mind since you made that decision? Can you transfer to the regular public high school?
Technical high schools exist primarily to train people who wonāt go to college. While of course some will go on to college, it is not the normal path and not what those schools are designed for.
The big question is will you be able to fulfill any requirements the colleges outline. For instance some highly competitive colleges require four years of a foreign language. Thatās not something necessarily available at a tech HS.
Itās not so much that colleges do not like tech students so much as tech students usually have not attained the difficulty level in courses that selective colleges want. It really depends upon the college as to whether they accept the level of academic difficulty you have achieved.
A tech students who has also excelled in top levels of college prep courses would be a rare bird and may even garner additional attention and consideration. My SIL switched midway through high school from a non AP/Honors track into the most difficult courses, and Harvard was impressed. She had the rest of the academic package too with very high test scores and very unusual ECs as well as top grades in every course she took. That she started out non college prep in high school was viewed as a challenge she well mastered. Iāve seen a number of such ācross oversā that were highly successful
Yes, graduates of technical high schools get into āeliteā institutions every year. Whether you would be able to get into whichever āeliteā institutions you would apply to is a separate issue. So start by having a conversation with the guidance team at your own high school. They know exactly where students with your profile have been accepted in recent years.