<p>My older two went to a crummy public school, took all available AP's (none), got some knock-out standardized test results in SAT-I's and SAT-II's, wrote essays from their hearts, got no useful guiidance counseling whatsoever, attracted teachers who probably wrote fine recommendation letters because they stood out. Their h.s. EC's were "meh" but we made sure they did some unusual things offered in the community for drama, social service. </p>
<p>Result of the "big fish in small pond" situation: top LAC's embraced them; and waitlists on Ivies. When the time comes, REALLY look at LAC's and include them on your eventual list.</p>
<p>Also, agree with your kid to let you critique term papers AFTER they are graded, just so you can teach the kid to write very well. Of all the issues, I thought our crummy high school fell down most on teaching writing. Too many teachers in subject matter courses didn't consider it their job to correct grammar, spelling or syntax. So if the English teachers are so-so, your kid needs YOU to learn to write well. Only do it after and outside of the school grading system.</p>
<p>My son goes to a top private school in the east--pretty much up till all hours studying since fresh. year started...also highly involved in sports...very good raport with teachers etc...Does it matter?...only when it comes down to having equal stats with someone else from a high school thought to be less rigorous, whether private or public-- and even then, if too many from our school applied there-it was a disadvantage for the lesser qualified student... It didn't help at all at the colleges that were not familiar with our school...which would be the colleges he applied to in the south...for the colleges familiar with our school--we got a much better success rate.</p>
<p>If your D is genuinely interested in CTY, go for it. But "important" summer programs are not essential for college admissions. My son goes to a very small, start-up high school. He went to plain vanilla summer camp for years. Before each summer once he hit high school, I tried to encourage him to do something "serious" instead. I confess that, in addition to personal enrichment, I had college admissions in mind. He resisted my suggestions. He wanted to spend the summers at the camp he loves with friends he loves, and that is what he did. (Full disclosure: During the last summer before college he did participate in a relatively brief but highly selective program in one of his areas of interest after camp.) </p>
<p>Camp was even the subject of one of his college essays, and he got into a number of highly selective schools. The relative lack of "important" summer pursuits definitely did not torpedo his applications. (I am not, BTW, bashing such pursuits. I think they’re a fantastic idea for the student who is motivated to do them.)</p>
<p>"He went to plain vanilla summer camp for years. Before each summer once he hit high school, I tried to encourage him to do something "serious" instead. I confess that, in addition to personal enrichment, I had college admissions in mind. He resisted my suggestions. He wanted to spend the summers at the camp he loves with friends he loves, and that is what he did."</p>
<p>Just change the "he" to a "she" and that was my daughter as well.....Resisted anything but her "home away from home"......</p>
<p>I now believe that what you do over the summer is possibly irrelevant to college admissions.....We know students who did amazing academic programs who were rejected at top schools and the majority, like my daughter, who followed their adolescent hearts (bless them) are all heading to top schools next year......</p>
<p>It's very humbling to tell your 18 yr old that, "yes, you were right and I was wrong".......</p>
<p>aashad, yay! for CTY! My son looooves going.</p>
<p>Re: high schools, S is in a competitive-entry science and tech program in a public high school. He is/will get a good high school education from this, but will not be the top student nor have the top SAT scores (or rather, will not be the only one with top SAT scores) in his class. The school, especially this program, sends kids off to many selective colleges, including Ivys; S is not going to stand out in this school as he would in our local high school. </p>
<p>Were he in the local high school, he'd be the only SET kid there; that's not the case where he is now. When adcoms compare candidates from his high school, I think he is more likely to be overlooked than he would be were he someplace else.</p>
<p>But since the point of high school is to get the best education one can for those four years, he's where he should be.</p>
<p>My kids also went to a barely adequate HS. Average SATs around 900. Neither was val (5 and 7 respectively). They both did very, very well on SAT 1's, but unevenly on SAT 2's--content based tests are harder for kids who have less background from their HS. Both had decent but not earth-shattering EC's, both write extremely well, and both had teachers who adored them and wrote, I believe, good recs.</p>
<p>D ended up in a top LAC. S at an Ivy.</p>
<p>Caveat: Both had to make like ducks--looking calm on the surface but paddling like mad to keep up--because they did not have the background that their peers did. This worked fine for my D, who graduated in the top 20% of her LAC, Phi Beta Kappa. OTOH, when, after two years of stellar work, S decided he didn't see the worth of this kind of paddling and stumbled, things went less well, and he has withdrawn in his senior year. I think his issues were more class than preparation--just didn't fit in. But that's a personal issue. He did get in, and could have continued to excel with a different mindset.</p>
<p>There are lots of rural areas where there is only one show in town as far as hs is concerned. Our current class has only 70 something grads and several have been accepted into top schools. I think there is something to be said for doing well regardless of your hs's overall performance and it can help to have taken a rigorous courseload and done well in a small rural public w/o the resources of a large urban or suburban setting.</p>
<p>OP: Colleges w/ holistic admissions policies know the profile of the hs so this is one part of the admissions process you don't need to worry about. As long as your D is doing well and has a balanced list she will be fine (sometimes the more obscure high schools are better)</p>
<p>aashad : "So, from what I have read in some of the posts on CC, it helps your child with admissions if they are attending a "high achieving" high school. Is this really true, and if so, is my daughter going to be thought of as less than ideal if her school is fairly new and the overall school stats aren't that great?"</p>
<p>At least at Stanford it seems to be totally opposite. Your D's chances actually increase if she is a top student from a not known/ new high school than the not top student at a competitive high school.
The Stanford policy encourage students from the less performing public and inner city public high schools.</p>