<p>Well It was pretty cool at the time, but now I kind of regret not commuting to a suburban school an hour away everyday...</p>
<p>I go to a really poor high school (our whole entire school qualifies for free lunch with no special forms bc the poverty rates are so high) and have kinda slid on by the past 3 years - I'm a junior. I am ranked #1 in my class of 260 (and dropping) with a 4.0 unweighted gpa (my school only offers apush and chem), but I'm kind of worried what life is like in the big leagues. My classes, not all but most, always curve the tests off of my grade (we've gotten 30 point curves before lol) and I know that I'm above average, but not super smart. </p>
<p>My question is this: will the highschool name on my transcript have anything to do with my admissions? Because I know it is not fair at all, but I do not study or do homework and am labeled as being very academically successful. To help put this into perspective, I took the sat the first time this year in September (I think) and got an 1860. I am number 1 here while The people at the white schools get 2000 pluses and aren't even top 10?!</p>
<p>Nd before any1 critiques me on my grammar, I know it is off. I just do not feel like fixing it - a testimony to my work effort academically lol</p>
<p>You are, on paper, exactly what many schools are looking for; some even have pre-freshman classes to help you get adjusted to the differences between college and your high school. I knew a kid in college who was from a very bad, very poor neighborhood and he used to steal books from the library because he had no other access to them and couldn’t give them up. That was at Cornell!</p>
<p>Personally I think a smaller, LAC might be better for you because they often pride themselves on knowing all their students, you won’t get lost or fall through the cracks, professors and the administration will take a more personal interest in you and help you along, especially freshman year.</p>
<p>You don’t say where you’re from or what you might be looking for in a college (location, size, atmosphere, etc.) but there are probably a lot of schools out there that would be happy to work with you. If you give us some more information we could give you more specific suggestions.</p>
<p>Wherever you go, make sure you find out what resources are available to help you with time management and study skills. I also came from a weak high school - I coasted all 4 years. Did well, but when I got to college I was shocked by the amount of work I was expected to do! Most schools have free programs to help - it sounds like you haven’t needed to develop these skills in your school, and it can be hard to figure out on your own. There are people who want to help - take advantage of the resources. As for whether your school will hurt you, some colleges do look at the “strength” of your high school, but not so much to penalize you as to see if you took advantage of whatever was available to you, even if the opportunities were limited. If they see you’ve only taken 2 AP courses, but that the school only offered 2 AP courses, then they know you took the most rigorous courseload that was available to you.</p>
<p>People excel out of crappy high schools all the time so don’t let that stop you and don’t overthink it - you’re number 1 at a crappy high school instead of number 200 or so. You could get a half tuition scholarship at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania just based on your class ranking. Study a bit and take the SAT again to bump over 2000 if you want (but agree 1860 ain’t bad). Good luck!</p>
<p>just on your class ranking you can get full tuition at Elmira in NY State. :)</p>
<p>To prepare for the SAT next time (as well as for SAT Subjects, which you should take this June - after the end of class spend time reviewing and preparing for them - choose your three best subjects and aim for a 700+)</p>
<p>Are you taking the two AP classes now or have you already taken them? Try to study on your own, perhaps with material from the school library or from the town/neighborhood library, so that you show you can get a 5 (or at least a 4). </p>
<p>Do look into Questbridge. Start with the application for the summer program (mentorship, etc). But to be selected and succeed through Questbridge, you’ll need to show a strong work ethic.</p>
<p>It sounds like you’re not being academically challenged… do you want to be challenged? If so, ask your guidance counselor whether you can have access to dual enrollment (you take classes at the community college for free and it counts toward high school graduation). While it won’t be at the same level of rigor as the best schools out there, it’ll definitely be faster paced and more rigorous than your current classes, so it’ll be a good transition if you intend to attend “top” colleges or your state’s flagship, plus it’ll show colleges that you have drive, ambition, and ability to succeed.</p>
<p>You may want to read <em>A Hope in the Unseen</em> by Ron Suskind.</p>
<p>In addition, Texas offers valedictorians from their high schools full tuition. I don’t know if any other states do the same.</p>
<p>As heady as all this may be, take seriously your need to learn study skills before starting college. Many community colleges or local city colleges will offer study skills courses that you can enroll in now. Do so.</p>
<p>^ Texas offers a one-year tuition exemption at Texas public colleges for valedictorians from accredited Texas high schools. That’s enough to make the competition pretty fierce sometimes.</p>