<p>does if matter which high school you graduate from? will it affect college admissions?</p>
<p>for example, will an applicant who graduated from say princess anne be chosen over one who graduated from woodside high school even though they have identical grades, scores, activities, etc.</p>
<p>it depends. if the school is need-aware, someone who goes to princess anne will fare better than someone who went to woodside. Or a need-blind school could get really excited about a kid from a privileged background not afraid of mixing with the masses. I guess it depends if you live in Redwood city or Woodside.</p>
<p>yes. if you come from a better school than you have a better chance. say two people had the same everything on their application. the one from the better school would be accepted.</p>
<p>dang…that really sucks. isnt that kind of unfair though? because what if someone didnt have a choice but to go to a crappy school</p>
<p>It’s all about magnitudes here. An applicant from a rigorous preparatory school will generally beat out an identical applicant from a ‘suburbia’ high school. However, one applicant from a prep school will generally lose to an identical applicant from an underprivileged, urban or rural high school. </p>
<p>Essentially, the difference between the top prep schools and typical high schools is that adcoms know what to expect from top schools: rigor, ECs, ambition, desire to better learning, etc. However, when an applicant from a truly disadvantaged background performs at the same level as one from a prep or suburban high school, the applicant is certainly looked upon favorably and will almost certainly beat out the students who had an easier time in life.</p>