<p>Title question</p>
<p>I'm curious about this too...</p>
<p>I think it's important in putting your achievements in context (is your school really hard, no one gets 4.0s, how many APs are offered, EC activities, etc.).</p>
<p>Don't colleges compare your school's academic performance index/some test of the sort to other schools to compare how tough they are and how tough it is to obtain a 3.8 between them?</p>
<p>I don't think your high school's prestige is a hugh factor. Some very well known schools have relationships with top schools that help with admissions, so this can be helpful for some schools. But admission committees will look at you within the context of the school that you attend.</p>
<p>It really depends--the colleges may have some relationship with your HS if they send a lot of students there. If your HS does & they all do well, it's a good thing & may help tip an applicant in a close case. On the other hand, if LOTS of students go there from the HS, they will compare the students from the same HS & be more picky since they can choose the ones who are more attractive.</p>
<p>It does help put your grades & achievements in context when they're familiar with your HS. For example, my kids' HS was uber-competitive. My S was a NMF but still only ranked at the middle of his class of 240 by grades! He was still admitted to many excellent schools with great merit aid despite his lower class ranking & "lower" grades.</p>
<p>fhg: just so you know, top school on Long Island, NY, ranked #8 in the country, has rampant grade inflation; many,many "A" students.....so that is not necessarily a criteria.....</p>
<p>no its an important factor, the schools send out self reports announcing how many poeple went this this this college and how many went to this this college. While it may not be a huge factor, it can be a turning point for many people. I mean colleges know there is a huge array of difference between the level of teaching at high schools and the level of competition at high schools; they arent going to ignore that</p>
<p>It's not important. If you didn't go to a prestigious high school, it won't hurt you. All it will do is clear up some stats on your application, like HImom said.</p>
<p>It is a very important factor. If your high school is not very competitive how are colleges going to know how will you do in a competitive atmosphere?</p>
<p>let me emphasize that the highschool you attend will only give you a slight advantage</p>
<p>Haha, wow, looks like this is quite a divisive question.
I think the high school's prestige definitely matters--certainly not of the most important component of your app but colleges do use it to assess your grades. Otherwise, private schools and specialized high schools would be useless if all they looked at were hard numbers.</p>
<p>I really hope colleges take it into consideration. I go to an international school overseas and the competition is crazy. Some girl who graduated last year and is now at Harvard said one of the senior honors classes was harder/same level as her history class there.
I'm pretty sure the avg. SAT is about 1900 something, and the avg. GPA is like a 3.7, which is crazy because it makes my school look like it's easy, but its really just the kids are super intelligent and focused. I transferred from a public school, and the initial shock was amazing. No one ever fails a class, a C is a sin.
Many of the graduates go on to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Brown, Cornell, etc... but i just feel like if colleges don't take the difficulty of my high school into consideration, I'm screwed.</p>
<p>It does matter, especially if you are from say Stuyvesant or Bronx Science or the equivalent in your state/city.</p>
<p>MCS--obviously your HS has a connection with a lot of the Us & they know the quality of student that comes from your HS & the work they're able to do at their Us. The relationship between the HS college counselor & Us can be very helpful & it sounds like it works well for your HS.</p>
<p>It's the HSs that rarely send kids to these Us that the Us don't know as much about & have to learn a bit more to figure out how that HS compares with students from other HSs. In the end, students just all do their best & it is up to their HS to help explain how rigorous their program is & how well-prepared their grads are to face U challenges. The counselors submit profiles to help do this.</p>
<p>Colleges jump up and down with excitement when they get a great candidate from an under performing, low income school that hardly ever sends them applications. That kid is meeting an institutional desire and will have a much better chance than a kid with equal stats at Exeter.</p>
<p>At the most competitive high schools, most of the kids want the same dozen colleges. This means they are the first line of competition for each other. It can be much harder to get into an ivy from a 'feeder' prep school than from other schools.</p>
<p>That said, a white/asian affluent applicant from a mediocre/crummy school is probably in the worst position.</p>
<p>Hi Bothwings,
You have "SoCal" listed as your location, so I wanted to mention that the UCs actually give extra consideration to students from lower-performing high schools. It is one of their strategies to increase diversity.</p>
<p>It matters for context, of course, but I don't really see how any particular school could give you a significant advantage (certainly, there are cases like if the college has a good relationship with your high school, but that won't make them admit you if you're not a qualified applicant in the first place). How can colleges really hold against you something you might have no control over? My parents can't afford (and would think it's a waste of money anyway) private schools (not that the ones in our area or that great) and there are not great public schools around here (and you are assigned to one, you don't choose). I hope that no college will hold that against me!</p>