<p>I attend a rural high school. Sometimes I think it's bearable, and sometimes I wonder what it would be like had I moved into the next town over and went to a bigger school.</p>
<p>As much as I enjoyed all the experiences I had in this particular school, I still wonder how that will affect my college admissions process. I'm a senior now, and now I'm beginning the application process. I am applying to a few highly selective schools (some for the heck of it, one true target/dream school) and at times I worry about what the outcome might be. No way in the world do I expect to get in because I have solid grades or test scores, but I wonder if I would stand out more had I excelled in a larger school.</p>
<p>My school is a target school for the No Child Left Behind program. My class a lot had a lot of people fail or drop out, and those who do graduate don't go off to college. There is definitely a mindset here that an education at a selective school is not even an option. Sometimes I wish that weren't so, that it is possible for the students to get into that ideal school, but at times I feel that I'm pursuing a lost cause. I know that admissions officers look at you in the context of my school, but even doing as much as I am right now, I still don't feel as if that's enough. I've exhausted my curriculum and I've taken advantage of my opportunities, but still, I hear that I don't have enough AP classes, or that I didn't go to Governor's School.</p>
<p>It's frustrating, and I hate to be such a downer. But does anyone feel the same way, or at least have something insightful to say?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>