<p>My school offers a pretty rigorous courseload (no limit on #APs you can take, high grad rate, high averages, high SATs, etc.) I've noticed that, out of the 11 people (Naviance) that applied over the past 4 years, not a single person has been admitted. All rejects.</p>
<p>Now, out of those 11, 7 display averages and SATs. There is one that is really low (you know, the unrealistic person who thinks that the ivies are going to roll down the red carpet), but the other 6 seemed very qualified- 1400 or above out of 1600 on the SATs, all above 91, four of the 6 above 95. The guy with a 98 average and 1540/1600 didn't get in!</p>
<p>It's hard to make an obvious determination- Naviance doesn't display how rigorous the course loads those kids took were, or what their ECs are, or other deciding factors. It's a taboo subject (all of the guidance department always answers "I don't know"). One teacher said that a student from the school district got caught doing a "racist act" at Yale and said that no one has been admitted since. There are no news articles about it either. The same kids (averages and SATs in the same spots) were accepted by other ivies RD as well.</p>
<p>The whole thing seems weird, and I'm just curious: Do colleges hold grudges against schools? Or is it just coincidence/other factors?</p>
<p>TBH I have no idea if they actually do, but I’ve heard repeatedly that Stanford doesn’t like kids at my school and no one has gotten in for YEARS, even though many applicants have been incredibly qualified. However, one girl at my school just got accepted, breaking that! She’s also a double-legacy, absolutely brilliant, and a swimmer going to the olympic trials.</p>
<p>I think there’s some truth to it. For instance, if a school has a past history of admitted students who don’t matriculate or drop out, or fail at the university, or any other negative instance, it reflects (though it shouldn’t) poorly on the school that the student represents.</p>
<p>Huh, so does this mean that the acceptance rate goes down for regular applicants? I’m assuming they have accepted many kids from across the country on athletics.</p>
<p>It is not a grudge. Because of US News ratings, colleges want a high yield. If everyone from your school views that
college as last choice and does not matriculate, the college gets the message and rejects people from your school</p>
<p>My school is the archenemy of Princeton, as every single person whos applied to there EVER has been rejected, even though we send about 15 each year to Cornell, a few to Harvard and Yale, and a bunch more to other top 25 schools.</p>
<p>While not impossible, i think the term “grudge” denotes some personal value judgment. Among the ultra selectives’ geographic distributions, certain schools probably have great reputations, some are complete unknowns, and others may raise red flags.</p>
<p>There is a well known HS in my area that regularly has apps to the top schools. However it’s developed a reputation for being an AP factory (i.e. AP in name only) and the students aren’t as deep as their numbers might convey. Last year, this school had eleven apps to my alma mater (one of the HYP) – all rejected. But every few years, some do get in. Is it a grudge? I wouldn’t say it is. Sometimes they are just statistical curiosities.</p>
<p>The HS in my neighborhood ususally gets 1-2 every few years into my alma mater. Last year, four were accepted – making it one of the most successful schools in my whole state. Did something change at the school district? No. I rather think four great kids just coincidentally happen to attend the same school and the college didn’t care.</p>
<p>our guidance counselor told us repeatedly over the years that YES certain colleges hold grudges with our high school…those where the hs kids are accepted over and over, and never come get some schools upset enough to be hesitant about further acceptances.</p>
<p>My school isn’t exactly an “AP factory”. Most (80% get 3 or above, and about 50% will get 4 or 5 on most APs).</p>
<p>And if “grudge” is a personal value judgment, isn’t that exactly what judging kids based on a couple of dropouts or one incident (referred to in original post) is?</p>
<p>No other schools seem to hold it against us- some admit more some years, and less/none during others. Yale is the only higher-ed school with an extended application history at my school with a complete reject history during the past 7 years.. and while the school district won’t tell us why, they’ll admit that no one has gotten into Yale within the past 10 years- even before Naviance started tracking…</p>
<p>Where is your school? If it is near any other big name school, Yale may be reluctant to accept people there because they may be more likely to matriculate to the closer school. For example, my school is close to Harvard and people here are rarely accepted to Yale or Princeton.</p>
<p>I don’t know about the qualifications of the applicants, but no one from my public HS has ever gotten into UVa–while we send grads every year to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, etc.</p>
<p>It’s probably not fair or right, but I’ve seen too many stories about this to believe it doesn’t happen. A classic example would be someone who renegs on ED. Colleges expect the school to help guarantee everyone is playing by the rules and withdraws other apps. If someone doesn’t and the school lets them get away with it, you can bet its the last kid from that HS that gets in. Also I’ve read accounts in admission books of colleges rejecting everyone for a couple of years to send a message to a HS if they don’t think the counselors are steering them what they consider their fair share of the top kids.</p>