hey everyone, i know schools like andover, hunter, stuy, thhs are all well-known and extremely good but i live in a town where students don’t usually go to ivies. and not that i’m dying over this fact since i want to apply to only some decent liberal arts schools like vassar, colgate, etc., but i’m not even sure if i can get accepted into those schools, because of my high school level.
i’m also not a student that gets 100’s all the time so i was wondering if colleges would be like wow she goes to such a crappy school but her grades aren’t even the best?? any insight would help =) oh, and, i’m not a failing student, i do try my best but i’m usually a 90’s student, not a 99-100 student.
<p>Regardless of where you go to school, colleges want to know if you're taking a challenging curriculum--the most challenging available--and succeeding in it.</p>
<p>That being said, having an A- average in the most challenging classes at your high school isn't bad at all. If this includes 4+ AP classes, you should be all set. Colleges trust that AP classes are rigorous regardless of where you went to school. Your score on the AP exam should be a 4 or 5 to show that the class was serious.</p>
<p>If you're not in an AP- or IB-heavy curriculum, you have two major options available to you:
1.) Study independently for several AP exams using books by Barron's and REA. Take them in the May of your junior year (or earlier).
2.) Take classes at a local community college. These should be classes that you are genuinely interested in. Your grades in these courses matter.
3.) Pay for after-school and summer programs at a more prestigious college. Harvard Extension is a program of this nature for kids in the Boston area.</p>
<p>Note that #2 and #3 are treated nearly equally.</p>
<p>If you live in New York State and not a lot of people go to the Ivy's consider the Public colleges at Cornell. Good classes, great college, interesting people at a discount price. Cornell also has a history of taking people from all of the counties into their school. So a small town person might have an advantage.</p>