AKA does Harvard restrict the number of kids they take from each school? They take on average anywhere between 0 and 3 kids and there are two kids in my grade who are going to get in because of extremely strong connections; no questions asked. I won’t get into details but both are faculty kids among other things.
Does this greatly decrease my chances? Does Harvard have quotas for each school?
@gibby ? Thank you so much!
Frequently asked question. The answer is NO. If HYP MIT/Stanford et. al finds all of you to be not up to snuff, no one will be admitted. They have no quota to fulfill nor need to a set aside amount at another HS to assuage anyone. They admit whom they want, when they want.
You know there are about 30,000 high schools in this country right? Why don’t you hazard a guess at how many probably have NEVER had a Harvard admit ever?
Your 0-3 each year AUTOMATICALLY makes your HS extremely rare and unique.
As T26E4 said, Harvard doesn’t have quotas, but they can’t take everyone who applies from a specific high school, so they cherry-pick applicants who they feel are the best candidates. And for high schools, like yours, that have a track-record of acceptances, the numbers will vary every year due to the quality of the applicants themselves and the strength of the competition from students outside your high school. Bottom Line: Harvard might take all 3 of you, or none of you; it’s anyone’s guess. As you cannot control or influence the outcome, the only thing you can do is to apply to a broad range of colleges and hope for the best. GL to you!
@gibby @T26E4 I meant are they less LIKELY to take me considering the fact that they’re almost definitely taking two others from my school already? As in, are they likely to say “Nope, we’ve already taken two, can’t take a third because it’ll increase the percentage of accepted students from this school and we’ll have to even out the percentage to keep our acceptance rate low by taking fewer students from another school”?
Thank you!
Admissions Officers don’t think that way. They look for tippy-top scholars to fill their classrooms and are more concerened about finding “the brilliant diamond in the rough” rather than thinking about percentages of kids from one school. If you happen to be the kid they want, they will take you regardless of who else they admitted from your school.
@gibby Is the opposite true? If a student were from a more rural setting where little to no students have ever gotten in, would that be an advantage to an applicant from there?
^^ Truthfully, it depends on the high school. If your high school has NEVER had a student accepted to Harvard, there’s a strong likelihood that your high school is just not on the college’s radar. That doesn’t mean it can’t happen, just that it’s less likely to happen. The same would apply for a student who is from a high school that has had very few acceptances to the college. The unfortunate reality is: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/12/13/making-harvard-feeder-schools/
@gibby how has your child’s experience at Harvard been?
@highlyaspiring99 I’m sure Gibby won’t mind my citing this earlier post: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/15733967/#Comment_15733967
Saying that other students from your high school were accepted while you were rejected is a convenient excuse to rationalize your rejection.
Being from a rural school can be beneficial. It can be a situation where a student can show more of a distinction between themselves and the rest of their class. There is also a bit of a diversity factor geographically and socially. I believe the biggest consideration is how the student distinguishes themselves from the rest of their student body/class.
The same academic and extracurricular credentials would not likely be viewed nearly as positively if this same student was one of many or several within their school with similar accomplishments.
We are in a very rural area and our High School sends a student to Harvard every three or four years. Our High School presently has three students at Harvard. This has never happened before. From our daughters High School class of 2014 there are two students attending. That I know is a first, although there have been two students admitted from the same class previously. One of the students went to Harvard the other went to Stanford. The “ever gotten in” piece is not an easy one. I hope you break the ice and open the door for other students at your school.
Best Wishes to you!
@TomSrOfBoston I haven’t been rejected and they haven’t been accepted! Results haven’t come out yet. I’m not trying to rationalize so much as gage my chances (unsuccessfully, of course). But I understand why you might draw that conclusion. I’m sorry if I offended you!
@GreatKid Thank you for the perspective 
very interesting. Best wishes to you!