<p>I go to a small public high school where each year's graduating class averages about seventy students. Because it is such a small school, the class offerings for advanced, honors, and AP classes are very limited. The course offerings are also limited because most students who go to the school decide to stay in the area and go to community college. Would that affect Harvard or any college's decision about a student if they were at a disadvantage by going to a school like that?</p>
<p>In response to your question, William Fitzsimmons, Harvard’s dean of Admissions, has been quoted as saying “We admit students, not high schools.” When you apply to college, your guidance counselor sends a high school profile along with their Secondary School Report (SSR) detailing what courses your school offers and how your course load compares to other college bound students at your school. All selective colleges read a high school profile carefully and do not penalize students if their school has limited offerings. So long as you are taking the most rigorous course load you can, and doing well in each class, you will be fine.</p>
<p>Thank you! That makes a lot of sense. I’m just worried that it will seem like I’m not doing all I can, even though there aren’t many options open.</p>
<p>Though this is by no means expected, sometimes people in your position arrange programs with their school that enable them to take some advanced classes at a local college. Is this an option for you?</p>
<p>Unless “doing all you can” involves moving yourself to New Hampshire and attending Exeter Academy, then no, colleges don’t punish you for the “sins” of your parents. </p>
<p>As former Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld once said: “You go to war with the army you have—not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.”</p>
<p>Make sure you prep outside of your school to get high scores on the SAT/ACT. This helps “compare” you to others from schools with more offerings. They do appear to use this more from small schools without as much to compare from IME. (Our school offers very few AP and our kids absolutely DO have trouble making it into top schools - UNLESS they have superb SAT scores. If they just “match” the schools - even a little below top where acceptance rates are better - they generally are not in. We do offer a few cc classes, but it’s not the same as AP for acceptances from what I’ve seen happen with several years of seeing students.)</p>
<p>I know what they say about accepting a student based upon what they have, but… you’ll seriously want to do all you can and having top scores is going to be critical. For our top students, prepping outside of class is a necessity or they are underprepared.</p>
<p>The good news is we have one next year who ought to be able to be super competitive (but even she’ll tell you she’s spent hours outside of school getting the necessary foundation). She also has tippy top scores (unlike many of our not so successful applicants) and tons of community service + activities - even in our small town.</p>
<p>You can do it, just don’t “rest” on what your school offers.</p>
<p>No, but some students have an advantage in that doing all they can is much easier depending on what school they go to. What I mean is, at a small school with limited classes, one would have to take classes outside school, self study for AP exams etc. while at a more well-endowed school the student can do all that by simply signing up for the right classes, and additionally the school might offer a resource center for acquiring volunteer/internships and more ECs to get involved with.</p>
<p>Tl;dr: “Doing all you can” is harder at some schools than others. </p>
<p>My high school principal used to try to scare students into doing well on state standardized tests that determined a schools API, claiming that colleges factored that into the decisions. This turned out to be a myth.</p>
<p>No, but they do take it into consideration. Like if your high school doens’t have AP classes, you won’t be penalized for not taking them</p>
<p>Your application will be reviewed in the context of your high school. While you’ll also be compared to applicants from other high schools, the context of your high school won’t ever be ignored because it’s incredibly relevant to the application you present.</p>
<p>At least one study has found that students who excel at a less competitive high school actually have a slight advantage over those near the top at a competitive high school.</p>