Hello you all,
I am Mike, I am from Munich and I attend “The Perkiomen School” in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania. I am Sophomore and my first year here and plan to graduate in the US.
I am having very good marks, mostly As, some Bs. In addition to that, I already take 2 AP classes and do pretty well at them (Chem and Latin).
Now to my question, even though all Boarding School in the US have good college matriculation, I know of schools like Exeter, Andover, Deerfield and so on, whose students attend Ivies and other top colleges in big numbers. After graduation, I really want to attend a top college, it does not have to be Harvard or Yale, but I am aiming for highly selective schools.
Should I try to get into one of those boarding schools like Exeter or Andover, or can I make it with hard work at my current school also into a highly selective school, or maybe even into an Ivy league schools. Does the high school matter so much or do colleges just want to see, that I challenge myself?
Thank you very much for responding and I am sorry for this not very good English, I am trying my best to do it fine.
Yours Sincerely and a nice Thanksgiving
Mike
I mean if you can get into an ivy in Andover or Exeter, you can probably also get to an ivy from any old public school. If you can afford the tuition than you should probably go.
Big name boarding schools have a good college matriculation rate for a reason. They are good at picking out students with high likelihood of getting into top schools. Whether it be by virtue of a rich alumni parent, sports, or unusual artistic ability, these schools admissions committees are like mini-Ivy league schools.
Now you could probably transfer to Andover or one of the other schools as a new 11th grader, but it would put you at a serious disadvantage for several reasons: 1) Its much harder at these other schools - so standing out and getting top grades is not as easy 2) You’ll only have about a year at the new school to show yourself off before you have to apply to colleges. The other students who have been there for 4 years already have already made in-roads with the teachers.
Having said all this, if you focus on doing well at your current BS, chances are you’ll be fine. Better to be a big fish in a small pond, instead of a small fish in a big pond.
Good luck.
In short: Yes, it matters (but only a little)
Not exactly. I mean, admissions wouldn’t use your high school as a factor in selecting students. However, they would look into your school and take note of the classes offered, graduation rate, location, etc. You can still do well in your high school right now as long as you’re consistent with your grades/classes. Challenge yourself by taking APs and extracurriculars. There are students that get into Ivys from low-performing highschools. Even though they may not have a chance at taking honors classes and the like, they still challenge themselves by taking college courses and doing things outside of school. They take advantage of what they can do. On the other hand, there are students who come from top high-schools who, even with the many resources available to them, don’t take advantage of these opportunities. Colleges would definitely take note of that. They like students who excel and lead themselves, especially when they don’t have access to things other students would at a regular basis.
In dependence to the evaluation of colleges based on your course rigour it will matter. Colleges know that private schools and magnet schools tend to be a lot more rigorous than public schools. However, it won’t affect you if you go to a challenging public school as the report your high school sends can validify your achievements through class rank and a depiction of how you perform in regards to your peers.