@labegg In the top 100 (although closer to 100 than 1 
) according to Niche.
I have followed our NYC metro area high school’s Naviance for several years and I echo what many have said above. There are certain colleges that love our high school seniors more than others. These colleges accept more students from our senior class percentage-wise than the published admission rates would otherwise indicate. Thus our high school is “a feeder” high school for certain colleges. The reasons are as follows: a high percentage of those admitted actually attend–thus reciprocating the love shown by these colleges and buttressing the yield rates for these colleges as well; many of the accepted students are full pay or close to it, so the colleges know the students will not only attend, but won’t require a lot of aid; and perhaps most importantly, the colleges see year after year that the students who attend from our high school perform well academically. The local admissons representative who cover the territory where our high school is located, know the quality of the high school and are familiar with the rigor of courses offered. They know the types of students —stat-wise/credential-wise and based on rigor of curriculum—who do well, as the college adcoms definitely keep track of how the admitted students perform academically at their respective colleges.
I’m sure reputation and track record does play a factor (just like in real life). Who knows to what degree? S went to a public Charter that just celebrated it’s 10th yr. 9th largest school district in the country. One of two Blue Ribbon schools in the county. Only school in county to receive an “A” ranking for the past 6 years. Has never sent a kid to HYPSM (or anything close). School was created to provide a great / safe alternative for inner city kids. It has grown into a public lottery situation with a waiting list 500 strong. Yet NO visits from any prominent colleges. When the elites are in town, they host events at specific schools and they invite other schools to attend. Clearly they have a track record and active pipeline with the hosting school which annually sends kids to HYP. On the surface it seems quite unfair. But, like anything else, it takes a lot of effort to break on to the scene. Son’s class was the first to send several kids OOS to very strong schools. 10 yrs from now, maybe HYP… Someone has to be the first. I guess it takes a kid soooo outstanding that the elites can’t say no. Then assuming a positive result they start building a relationship with that high school.
As I tell my staff, my business colleagues, and my kids, “It is what it is”.
I had the same question as the OP when my DD started her high school: why couldn’t her high school send more students to elite colleges? Until I realized that the jobs of GC was to make sure every student graduate from high school on time, not to send students to elite colleges. Each GC at her school is responsible for more than 900 students, comparing to a private prep school in our area where they have 8 GC for 500 students and a director who was AO at an ivy. When a high school sends only one or two students to a college every few years, it will be really hard to establish any relationship with AO at that college, considering the short tenure and high turnover rate of AO. The expectation for GC in earlier comments can only exist at private schools or competitive/magnet public high schools. Our metropolitan area has on average one admission to Harvard for every 6 high schools, or every 10 public high schools when you exclude those from private schools. The number can go as high as every 20 public high school for one admission for unhooked students. You will be wrong to think that there is one admission to every elite school per 20 high school, because likely it will be the same student who receives all these admissions.
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35,000 high schools in the country, >3,500,000 high school seniors each year, not including additional international applicants all competing for a very limited number (probably under 30,000, depending on how you define top 10 or 20) of spots at IVY and other top 10 or 20 programs. Not surprising that outside of the standard feeder schools that regularly make the top HS lists (like TJ, mentioned earlier in this thread) most high schools have very little success at getting their kids in to elite schools.
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The sample size is too small to draw significant conclusions. For example, the expected number of acceptances based on the overall acceptance rate of the college and number applied is below:
Yale – Expected 0.7, actual 0
Harvard – Expected 0.4, actual 0
Princeton – Expected 0.8, actual 0
…
MIT – Expected 1.2, actual 2