<p>When I was in elementary school, I attended a really competitive district (lets call it the W district). Then my parents switched me to another school district (M district) because its highschool was smaller, and they thought I would stand out more.</p>
<p>So I'm wondering, do colleges really do the whole inter-school comparing when they look at the applications? If I'm top 3% in my small high school do I have a better chance of getting into an Ivy League than if I were top 10% in a really competitive neighboring school? I feel like WHS is more known for its academic excellence than MHS and colleges would take more kids from WHS. I don't know :/</p>
<p>In my area, there’s a school (public) that’s rather well known, and even those who are just average in their class get into good schools. However, that’s not always the case. Sometimes a student does well at one school, while they could move to another and be valedictorian. Colleges would probably accept the valedictorian from the worse school rather than the good student from the better school.</p>
<p>Of course, in direct opposition to many on this forum, I think students should do what helps them learn the most, not what helps them get into college. If the competitive school pushes you to succeed, that’s the better option. If it stresses you out, go to the other.</p>
<p>Thank you for replying! I just regret sometimes that I moved from such a competitive environment to one that is not as competitive. I hear about all these amazing things that WHS kids have done, that no one in my school really does. Maybe if I had been exposed to that I would have been more motivated?</p>
<p>Honestly, why bother to ask? Are you considering moving or changing schools? If not, then you are where you are, and that’s where you’re staying. </p>
<p>Pay attention to the things you can control–such as putting together the best college applications you can–instead of foolishly wasting energy worrying about pointless what-ifs.</p>
<p>Some kids from really competitive, well funded school districts get into Yale, but most of them don’t. Some kids from smaller, more personal schools get into Yale, but most of them don’t. You will never find any satisfactory answer to the question you’re trying to pose.</p>
<p>Ok thanks. You are right. I really shouldn’t waste even more energy on this. I’m kind of a what-if person so I guess that’s what led me to make this post but thank you for reminding me of what’s really important haha.</p>
<p>Second-guessing oneself is a dangerous hobby. It can occupy a lot of a person’s time.</p>
<p>Or, you know, so I’m told…</p>
<p>The thing with really competitive schools is all of those students will apply to top schools. Colleges don’t want to take too many applicants from the same school. Even top boarding schools like Andover or Exeter won’t send more than 2 to a school like Harvard. I personally believe the less competitive smaller school will give a higher chance at acceptance into a selective college.</p>