<p>My question is does the prestige of the high school you attend help/hurt your chances at a college?</p>
<p>Both. Simple and complicated answers all shake out to YES.</p>
<p>that doesn't seem very fair</p>
<p>Life isn't fair, neither is the college admission process. Checkers, cards, those are fair.</p>
<p>I definitely think it helps. If your school has produce a lot of students who have done very well at colleges i think that it makes applicants from your high school look all the more appealing.</p>
<p>Numerous college representatives have mentioned to me that yes, the quality of your school matters, but that you will still be evaluated within your "resources".</p>
<p>No, it does not matter as far as admissions is concerned. It matters very much in terms of preparation for a rigorous college curriculum.</p>
<p>As long as you reach out to the college admissions officer assigned to your state/region, you have as much chance as an applicant from a prestigious boarding school.</p>
<p>If, for example, you are #1 in your class in your average high school, score well on your standardized tests, and excel outside the classroom, you might actually have a BETTER chance than an equally enterprising student who finished in the top 10% of a very competitive high school.</p>
<p>
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It matters very much in terms of preparation for a rigorous college curriculum.
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Very true.</p>
<p>
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** As long as you reach out to the college admissions officer assigned to your state/region, you have as much chance as an applicant from a prestigious boarding school.
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**</p>
<p>I am thinking not so much. Clear there is a fair chance but I am not sure the chance is equal. Hmmm. Lots of discussions about this on CC.</p>
<p>I've heard this from some teachers at my school (I live in Nor Cal) that some UC's may look at the success (grades, GPA) of students from your school and say hmm.... these students from this school don't do very well and may be a consideration in the admissions process. However, if one considers SAT score, or AP scores, it may counteract with that factor.</p>
<p>For the most part, colleges look at you in the context of your high school. If you go to a school known for being very prestigious and you do not live up to the standards of that school, they will wonder why. On the other hand, if you go to a school that is small/poor/not prestigious but you do things that make you stand out from that school, you will stand out to admissions.</p>
<p>You may statistically have a better chance if you go to a better high school, but I think only because you've had more opportunities to do something impressive. It's a question of, did you do all you could with what you had? If the answer is yes, then you've maximized your ability to get in to your school.</p>
<p>how is it not fair to have a better chance if you go to a better high school? It's very fair considering the fact that better high schools are more competitive and more students from that school are qualified to go to a certain college.</p>
<p>aabbcc12789: here's the catch 22 on that. Have you heard the phrase: "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt." ? </p>
<p>A student in an average high school might have the raw mental horsepower to finish in the top 1% of that high school, but only 2nd quartile at a rigorous high school (in LA I would think of Harvard Westlake... of the book "Gatekeepers" fame.) </p>
<p>If you were such a student, you might have a better chance to get into a Top 20 school from the average high school as a Top 1% (because of an unknown upside potential), than as a 2nd Quartile student from HW (very good but not great potential firmly established).</p>
<p>The reality is that the 2nd quartile HW student is far better prepared for the rigors of a Top 20 school than the top 1% from the average high school, yet the prospect of academic greatness has been resolved in the negative.</p>
<p>What say you?</p>
<p>hi dunninLA,
I'm not saying that people who go to a competitive high school should have a huge advantage over less competitive high schools. I do agree that one may get into a top 20 school from an "unknown upside potential" rather than HW, but also that colleges should still look at schools within context. And I'm sorry if something I said offended you or anyone else b/c that's not what I had intended.</p>
<p>aabbcc1789: The quote does not apply to you at all -- sorry I left that impression. It applies to the applicant analogously ... one keeps his mouth shut (unknown upside potential from an ave. high school with little competitive context) and the other opens it and firmly establishes his academic potential (HW applicant in the 2nd quartile).</p>
<p>Sometimes my analogies can be rather loose, but it made sense to me!</p>
<p>aabbcc1789 -- my feeling is that the reward for attending a very competitive high school is the superior preparation for life... I think applicants from very competitive high schools not in the top quartile actually might be slightly disadvantaged in the admissions process vs. an equally intelligent and motivated applicant (top 1%) from an average high school.</p>