<p>I have a daughter who is going to apply to Harvard and Yale. She is finishing her sophomore year in a public high school and is ranked 3rd out of 529.
She is planning to attend a private Christian school for her junior and senior years of high school. There will be approximately 100 kids in her graduating class. Do you think that going to a smaller private Christian school will hurt her chances of getting into Harvard or Yale?</p>
<p>"I have a daughter who is going to apply to Harvard and Yale."</p>
<p>Your choice or hers?</p>
<p>Do you think that going to a smaller private Christian school will hurt her chances of getting into Harvard or Yale?</p>
<p>Yes. If getting into elite college is a priority, I strongly advise against switching to more competitive.</p>
<p>Deb keep in mind that the overwhelming majority of students admitted to elite schools come from public schools (because there are more applicants attending public school).The next group are students from many of the "elite"prep schools & private schools who have a track record of sending students to selective colleges/univerities. While there are students who are admitted from small catholic/christian/religious schools those numbers are less than 5% when compared with the rest of the admitted class.</p>
<p>I can tell you what to do as hopefully you are changing schools as it would be the best learning environment for your daughter not to increase her chances at H & Y (remember no matter how you slice it, over 90% of the applicant pool is going to be admitted).</p>
<p>Wow, why don't you let your daughter make that decision? Helicopter-parent alert! H & Y are crapshoots for everyone. I really hope H and Y are schools are your daughter's choices and not your own.</p>
<p>Debjef: why I don't doubt that your post is sincere and your request is real, please note that CC is infused w/people obsessed with sometimes very unhealthy expectations about HYPS admissions. Please don't take the comments personally -- it's just that your statements leave us worried. Personally, I find the chaos and HYPS-chasing rather disturbing (I'm an alum interviewer from one of them).</p>
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remember no matter how you slice it, over 90% of the applicant pool is going to be admitted).
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<p>I meant to say is remember that no matter how you slice it, over 90% of the applicant pool is not going to be admitted.</p>
<p>If you are serious about increasing your daughter's chances (or rather, not hurting them), then you should carefully contemplate what the change means. Does the private school send a significant portion to elite schools, including the Ivies? Will your daughter's GPA carry from the public to the private, or will it be derived solely from what she does at the new school? If the school ranks, how will your daughter be calculated into it? Will your daughter qualify for the new school's honor society/awards after only one year? Are there opportunities at the small school for extracurriculars? </p>
<p>Of course, you also have to ask yourself whether the move is for HYPS prestige or for the good of your daughter's education. What does the new school offer that the old one does not? Will she be challenged? Smaller schools have more limited course options -- do these address her needs? Will the new school better prepare her for college?</p>
<p>Keep in mind that there is always an adjustment period when changing schools, so (depending on how difficult the private school is) her grades may suffer. Also, I hope that you and your daughter don't believe that she'll be the top in her class simply because it's a smaller school. The more competitive a school is, the harder it is to get into the top ten, even if there are only 100 kids in the graduating class.</p>
<p>I think the bigger question should be why are you changing schools? Are you doing this as a ploy to give her a better edge into these schools? Or just because she is wanting to change and will be happier there? I personally think with all due respect that she is in 10th grade and the fact that this seems to be the biggest concern is a bit of a concern in itself. What are your real reasons for switching?Just ask yourself that. That surely is putting your D. under a lot of pressure if its all about a tactic for getting into a top college. If on the other hand, its purely becasue she wants to switch, then let her go, do whats right for her......let her work her hardest and try her best and shoot for the moon. If shes meant to go, she will go, and if she is not then she will no doubt fnd another wonderful school out there. Most people in their 10th grade year don't know already what colleges applying to so the way it came off is that this is your game plan. I wish her luck in her new school and if she shines there, her chances will pretty much be the same as they would in any school.:)</p>
<p>I must say I am so glad to find this website. I appreciate all of the responses. Actually, my daughter is very determined to go to one of the ivy league schools. This is not my idea. She sets very high standards for herself and has had a career in mind since she was very young. I would be very happy for her to go to UNC-CH or NCSU. In fact, I have tried to talk her into considering those schools since I went to UNC-CH. So, I am trying to support her because I admire her for having such high inspirations. That is why I posted the question. I just wondered how going to a smaller school might affect her chances. We are wanting to change schools because she is in the minority at her public school. The schools has fights constantly and she is having a hard time finding kids with the same goals that she has. She is subjected to bad language daily and prefers a more gentle environment. She could stick it out at the public school, but we recently moved and are going to be in another school district anyway. So, she'll have to change schools no matter what we do and I hear that the environment at the new public school is not much better.</p>
<p>She will read all of these posts today when she gets home from school and we will discuss some of the points you brought up.</p>
<p>Sounds like you have very sound reasons for changing schools. I've done the same in the past. But it will probably lower her chances for the Ivies and other prestige colleges, since such small high schools are not even on their radar usually. I agree with the other posts that the chances for Ivies are probably slim anyway, and there are other terrific schools she can apply to as well. Her high school years are important, so put her in the best environment you can.</p>
<p>Debjef: I'll also not advise switching to a catholic private school if your child rank 3/529 at the public school. Reputation of catholic private schools is not that of College prep private school and your child might loose the edge of ranking 3/529.
Your daughter might be better off at her public school if she is taking the toughest courses and maintaining a 3/529 rank.</p>
<p>I switched from the biggest HS in the state to correspondence school in freshman year for similar reasons. The work was harder and I slipped from a 3.8-4.0 to a 3.6, and my aspirations switched from Claremont/Chicago to smaller LACs, but I don't regret it.</p>
<p>I got swapped to a private Catholic school from a huge public school freshman year that is about the same size as the one you're considering. It really has helped me improve a lot. It might have been a change in maturity but the smaller class sizes and more personality that I had with the teachers contributed to better grades and more happiness for me.</p>
<p>Don't switch...her rank may go down, and that will hurt a LOT. Even if her rank doesn't go down, her recommendations may not be as strong as those of the established "top students" at the small school. Don't risk it.</p>
<p>Switch schools and don't worry about rank or competition. Your kid is not going to truly thrive at the school you describe your daughther in. Get her where she's happy and she'll grow most.</p>
<p>Christian high schools don't have a big showing at top colleges, many US kids attend but they are 3% at Dartmouth which is probably representative. As for NON parochial private schools, 7% of kids attend and they represent about 35% of the ivy league. With the right strategy, a well chosen private school can help.</p>
<p>I agree with Suze. If you have to change schools anyway, go with the one you think she will be happiest in. There's no predicting what will happen in the college process no matter what school she attends. Making friends, finding interesting activities, developing a strong sense of herself, and being challenged intellectually are most important and will put her in the best position to be competitive for college.</p>
<p>^True in theory but I am speaking from experience :( A good student can be challenged anywhere--of course a small school will offer a good environment but I still don't feel it's worth it to move.
The whole idea of "Advanced Placement" is that schools have equivalently set curricula...so if the daughter takes AP classes at the big school and holds her rank, she can certainly be challenged and experience comparable intellectual growth at the big school, while still remaining competitive for college.</p>
<p>Mallomar, colleges will not discriminate against you because of your access to resources. While many people look at the schools that offer 20+ APs and say that's a better opportunity, the school that offers 5-10 APs can be equally as good. There's a psychological thing going on that tells people to take as many APs as they can but the truth is, colleges expect you to challenge yourself as much as you can in your own environment. Challenge in the big school might be taking 20 APs the whole school year (not necessarily good for you) and challenge at the small school is taking those 5-10 APs. </p>
<p>Even if AP should all be equal in theory, I also speak from experience when I say that colleges know the theory doesn't apply to the real world. It's the same kind of thing as the rural school vs. the big public school. When you just look at hte stats, a kid who lives in NYC and has taken 20 APs is more impressive than the kid with a school of 600 with 1 AP. But what's more impressive, the kid in NYC whose dad and mom are lawyers and have a library in their house, or the kid in the small town where the only book in the house is the Bible?</p>
<p>^Access to resources is not the issue I was referring to. The reason I am against switching to a small private in the middle of high school is that the student will risk losing "top student" status (rank; rapport with teachers, counselors, administrators, etc which in turn influences awards and recommendations.). That matters a LOT when it comes to college admissions.</p>
<p>I brought up the AP thing for a different reason: a lot of people are saying that the student should go to the smaller school because she will be more challenged, etc. I said, AP classes are the same everywhere (that is the nature of the AP curriculum) so she will still be intellectually challenged at the big school.</p>