<p>So I go to a majority black magnet school in Baltimore County and most of the kids that graduate end up going to UMBC, CCBC (community college), or an HBCU. Not many go into ivy league schools and I think the last girl who went to an ivy was class of 2011. She wasn't the top ranked in her class, but she took a really rigorous course load and is now at Yale. So what I'm basically saying is that the school isn't that competitive.</p>
<p>So, what I'm wondering is since my school is located so close to baltimore city coupled with the fact that most kids don't go to ivy league or ivy level schools, will I have a better chance of getting into an ivy, specifically UPenn ED? Also, does me being an URM and female help my chances too?</p>
<p>Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! :)</p>
<p>(P.S.- My brother is starting Columbia in the fall and he graduated from a school where most kids go to CCBC and the graduation rate is around 70%, so maybe that helped him out)</p>
<p>There’s a difference, sometimes, between a school not being competitive enough to send more kids to the top tier colleges, versus not many kids even wanting to leave the home area in the first place- the sort of situations where they just don’t set their sights that high. In the latter case, you can’t always go on past history.</p>
<p>If you are a top achieving kid who took a rigorous course load, scored well in standardized tests, got 5’s, sometimes 4’s, in AP tests, stretched yourself in EC’s (including outside school) and you can show all this in your app, you stand a chance. Of course, 85+ % will get rejected, but you can reasonably apply.</p>
<p>Yes URM does help, but there are many factors- incl your major and that “rest of the picture.”</p>
<p>What’s important is that you need to be competitive. A black student with high stats will be very attractive to ivies and similar schools. We dont know the stats of kids from your school who were rejected from ivies. For example, someone with 1700 on the SAT is unlikely to be admitted by ivies. If you have ivy level stats, go ahead and apply. Yes, the odds ate not good for anyone, but you could be one of the few from your school and you could be a source of inspiration to younger classmates. As long as you have matches and safeties on your list, why not give it a try?</p>
<p>I got to a tiny hick school in the middle of nowhere. Everyone typically stays in state. I managed to be the second person in 100+ years of school history to go Ivy League. I think it helped me because I had no one to compete with. Schools have geographic quotas. There are super competitive high schools in my area. My advantage was my ability to stand out because of my small school background.
Going Ivy wasn’t even my goal. You have that goal in mind and if you have focus nothing is really out of the question.</p>
<p>I think your school can help you but most should not hurt you. If your HS has good name recognition and a good track record sending students that are successful and graduate from a particular college I think the college admin people will know. If your school sends a couple kids to Harvard each year and those kids do well I’m sure Harvard will notice and come to see that taking a kid from your HS is a good risk. If it is a school like yours they will more than likely rely on your particular strengths and weaknesses and ignore your school. Good Luck.</p>
<p>Your school’s admission history will never affect YOUR acceptance rate in a negative way. Our school has been open for nearly 60 years and up to recently had neger admitted someone to a top 20 school, let alone an Ivy League school. Nevertheless, a few years ago, someone was accepted to HYP from our school - the first.</p>
<p>First of all very few kids, by definition, get to go to the highly selective schools. Those accept numbers are awfully small. So couple that with very few kids even applying to such schools from your area, and you get even a smaller percentage. How that affects you individually, I really don’t know and no one can really say. You’ll be compared to those who apply with stats and background like yours which will be more instrumental than your specific high school.</p>