<p>does that put an applier at a disadvantage?</p>
<p>Its an urban school--not many people apply to top schools...does that make it hard for someone to actually get in?</p>
<p>Will a top school that admitted one student last year, be more interested in admitting another from that hs the next year?</p>
<p>Its much, much, much harder.</p>
<p>On the contrary, it makes you look more determined.</p>
<p>How is it much much much harder?</p>
<p>In fact, I would say, to an extent, easier. Think of the issue in two ways:</p>
<p>1) Ivy league accepts the best. They accept PEOPLE, not HIGH SCHOOLS. If a person from X crappy school with AMAZING STATS applies vs. a person from a PRIVATE school with the same stats, the former applicant would look amazing. The latter would look…typical. I am saying that coming from ****ty schools with great scores will look like you overcame something, a barrier of a not-so-great education. Coming from a private with those stats is EXPECTED, to say the least. Not only that but also people from schools that are ivy feeders are EXPECTED TO ACHIEVE MUCH MORE IN THEIR EC’s because of their opportunities. </p>
<p>2) Ivy league wants diversity. They don’t want to always accept people from the SAME SCHOOL EVERY YEAR!! (it’s just that the school has a reputation for bring out strong applicants) That’s undiverse. They would like to branch out their mark on unknown high schools; they would like to get amazing people from not-so-great backgrounds. I am not saying that a 2000SAT score OKAY EC’s from a never-heard of public school is as good as 2350 SAT, GREAT EC’s from a private school because the former does not have many opportunities.</p>
<p>Bottomline is that you must be a great applicant but coming from a crappy background, to some extent, helps a little than coming from really good schools, where there is MUCH! more competition.</p>
<p>Don’t listen to porkperson</p>
<p>Ya Bacon kid doesn’t know what he’s talking about.</p>
<p>haha thanks</p>
<p>Depends, I heard that some prestigious schools respect certain (rigorous) schools, where there are like 10 acceptees every year</p>
<p>I know a couple of kids who got into TJ (I personally didn’t apply), and apparently the school sends off like 60+ kids to HYPSM every year. Of course that doesn’t mean they get in solely because they go to TJ. They get in because they have good profiles (stats, gpas, etc.). The average SAT score of a senior attending TJ in the 2009-2010 school year was 2230+.</p>
<p>At my school, very few kids get accepted to top tier colleges (last year we had one girl get accepted to Georgetown/UChicago, another to Amherst, and a handful of kids to UVA/W&M), so I feel like I need to put extra effort to reach my goals. I don’t know though… I doubt I’ll be applying to as many liberal arts focused colleges as kids in the past did though. I’m more inclined to math/science (this might also make it even more difficult).</p>
<p>Anyways… I doubt that you going to a less than exemplary high school will have much of an effect on admissions decisions, but if kids in past years from your high school had similar profiles and got rejected from the schools you’re looking at, it’s probably a good idea to try harder.</p>
<p>Yeah. I know so many TJ kids. They all apply to MIT and harvard. They all got in.</p>
<p>They send so many kids to top schools. They’re super kids.</p>