can my hs affect my chances of getting in?

<p>hi:) i just found this site via google and found it intresting. But i've noticed that people list basically their high school resume to see if they'd get into their first choice college. As of right now, mine is William and Mary, but i was wondering if my chances of admission would be less then a kid who has more experience then me because of what is offered at thier school? My school is small and to me, doesn't offer much. We have only 1 AP class, and the courses that are "advanced" are really just putting the "gifted and talented" in the advanced class so we can go at our own pace, but really it's just the same as the regular class. During senior year, college chemistry, english, and calc is offered. I'm in all advanced classes, except for math. i also have a decent amount of ECs so far (i'm only going into junior year).So basically, i have/am going to get alot of the experience my school has to offer, but would someone who goes to a better school then me have better chances because of what there school has to offer? is there anything else i can do to increase my chances of getting into WM?
any advice from anyone would be great.Thanks!!! :D</p>

<p>p.s. i live in new york.</p>

<p>Not necessarily b/c colleges will definitely take into consider the courses offered at your school (there is a space on CommonApp for counselor to fill out how many honors and APs are offered). What they really want to know is, “have you take the toughest course load possible”. For example, a student who has taken 3 APs when his/her school only offers 3 is better off than a student who has taken 5 APs when his/her school offers 15. They definitely won’t hold your school’s lack of AP classes against you. To improve your chances, I would say make sure you take a challenging senior courseload and try to get good grades (at least 1st semester), get good teacher recs, and write some amazing essays.</p>

<p>GoldOwl Pretty much hit it all.</p>

<p>The goal is to take the most challenging course load available for your school.</p>

<p>Colleges can’t penalize you if there’s truly nothing more challenging available. Your goal needs to be: get the best grades in the hardest classes your school has.</p>

<p>Echoing the previous responses, W&M considers you within the context of where you attend high school and only ask you do the best you can within your environment. We don’t compare your transcript to that of a student who attends a different high school with different opportunities.</p>

<p>Your high school counselor will provide us information in the secondary school report form and will submit a high school profile to allow us to evaluate your transcript in context.</p>

<p>OP, ^ this is one of the things I really like about William and Mary. They ‘dip in’ to these threads and keep things on the level. They are absolutely the best at that. It is a tremendous school and worthy of your most serious consideration.</p>

<p>What they said is completely on point. However…from a pure, “cut to the chase, we can only admit so many” admissons perspective, one needs to understand that W&M has some unique challenges. They have to accept a certain % of VA applicants. And for some reason, they receive many more applications from women than men. (can anyone explain that?). As a result, OOS F have a much tougher time getting in. Published admissions stats reflect this. So if this they remain high on your list chase it hard, but have some solid backups.</p>