<p>If two students have identical stats, is it more advantageous to be from a competitive HS that sends many students to top schools, or from a school that rarely does?</p>
<p>Also, how do you know how competitive your high school is? I have no idea about mine... it's just an average, mid-sized suburban public school, and I think most kids go to state schools. How do colleges know?</p>
<p>Colleges expect a kid that came from a competitive high school to do well compared to his peers, and take the most challenging course load this is available, and they would expect the same of the kid from a less competitive high school. If both high schools prepared the student to succeed at that level of college, they start out with an even shot. Some high schools (say a private prep school in New England) have a lot of history getting their students into highly selective schools, and their talent pool is deep, so those students will be very prepared during application time. A small school in Kansas (or Ohio or Vermont … name a state) that has never sent a kid to an Ivy just may not know the ropes or may not be able to offer a curriculum that is competitive. </p>
<p>So, yes, the kids going to a highly competitive high school will have an advantage in some ways, however, their disadvantage is that they are being compared to a very talented pool of peers, and each Ivy or MIT only want so many from one particular high school, so if you go to these high schools and want to get into an Ivy or similar, there still is no guarantee.</p>