<p>do colleges care about the prestige of a high school
my school (public) hasnt sent kids to top schools for a long time. would this put me at a disadvantage?</p>
<p>They care if you’re school is ranked in the top-something in the nation sure but just because you come from a school that has never or not recently sent someone to a top school doesn’t mean there’s not a chance. My school had never sent anyone to an ivy or top school (at least not within the last 10 years) but I applied and was fine. Don’t let your schools lack of prestige or record keep you from applying.</p>
<p>For Harvard, attending a school that hasn’t sent anyone to Harvard before is a tip factor.</p>
<p>It’s all about how you use your resources and how you go beyond them. I think it’s actually BETTER to go to a school that doesn’t send kids to top schools. It will be easier for you to make a name for yourself in the school and show how much you’ve contributed. Bottom line = it’s you, not your high school that is the main focus.</p>
<p>^Well said. </p>
<p>Well, I think high school prestige is a bit of a farce to begin with, but I think the competitiveness of a high school does have some weight. For example, someone ranked in the middle of his class at Stuyvesant might be seen as on par with a valedictorian at a less competitive school in the South or something. I’m not really sure though… Just a thought.</p>
<p>Prestige is not negligible; if it was, my high school wouldn’t have been able to send 11 kids to Cornell and 8 to Columbia in a class of 360 this year ALONE. With that said, I do think that colleges are looking for students at schools that do not typically send kids to Ivy League schools, particularly students at those schools who are not only valedictorians but have really stood out as the best of their school in years. Generally, at non-prestigious school, a valedictorian/salutatorian status is considered almost essential for applying to top schools, but at prestigious schools, a lower rank can be forgiven.</p>
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<p>Umm… no. Valedictorian/salutatorian status is not a requirement for anything.</p>
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<p>I think monstor344 is right in that if you are coming from a public high school you need to be close to the top of the class for a shot at the very best schools. Maybe not valedictorian/salutatorian but within the top ten kids in your high school class.</p>
<p>The problem is that the top schools have so many qualified applicants and so many of them are coming from public high schools, it makes it hard to stand out.</p>
<p>one potential strong disadvantage would be if your school had students that were accepted to a given school and then all turned that school down, consistently</p>
<p>I heard some colleges get excited when they see an applicant from a school they’ve never seen before.</p>
<p>That’s probably true if its also a good applicant.</p>
<p>When I say non-prestigious, I mean the type of school OP is talking about; one in which an Ivy League student comes once every 5-10 years, where presumably most students at the top of the class go on to the state flagship. If a school does have a habit of at least sending 1-2 kids to top schools per year, then no, having valedictorian/salutatorian status probably isn’t essential.</p>
<p>Perhaps it is not necessarily prestige but simply a high school’s average SAT scores that can be used to determine how high an applicant’s rank needs to be. If, on a 2400 scale, the HS’ average score is less than 1300, then I would argue that what I originally said about vale/salu status holds true. The two are inversely proportional, for the most part.</p>
<p>Eh, vale/salu isn’t necessary at public schools (maybe if you have a TINY public school), but yeah. Even if the average SAT score is 1300: pretty much, everyone who gets above a 2000 on the SAT has a shot at top schools (provided their rank isn’t BELOW average), and I know my school has a strange distribution (a good amount of top scores, fewer middle scores, and a TON of low scores).</p>
<p>But basically, to the OP, if you’re a standout at your school, you’ve got a great chance at a top university. If you’re not in the top 10% of your school, though, you’re probably at a disadvantage. Unless you can show some compelling reason why you’re different.</p>
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<p>We’re way far apart in our perception here. I’m thinking more the way monstor344 is. If by top schools you mean HYPS, then they are really hard to get into.</p>
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<p>There are many schools FAR worse than what you described. Think vocational school for 60% of students for most country schools like the one I attend, or 70+% dropout rate for many inner-city public and charter schools.</p>
<p>Yes. I agree HYPS are really hard to get into. But look at the mid-50% of scores. Yes, a 2100 makes a big difference, but fi you stand out for some reason, a 2000 (maybe not HY, but SP) has a CHANCe (less than a 2100, yes, probably less than the 8-10% chance of being accepted on average, but a chance nonetheless).</p>
<p>OHKID, it almost goes without saying that you should be a vale/salu if you attend one of those kinds of schools and want to attend a top college. Even if the school described by OP is nowhere as bad as the type you’re mentioning, I still believe that one would need to be ranked 1/2 as an unhooked candidate for top schools. With a hook, things can become a little different.</p>
<p>terrible- my school sent like 3 kids to ivies this year. columbia/cornell and my class rank is rather low - (sigh)</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter either way.i went to a school that doesn’t send many kids to ivies and the only set back for me was that the advisers couldnt help me with things because they didn’t know as much about private school admissions. my advisers didn’t know what the SAT IIs were and couldn’t help me with my app or essays. you have to do it yourself</p>
<p>It would hurt you if you’re ranked low in your class, as that makes your school seem non-competitive, but it would be a good boost if you had the right academic qualifications.</p>