<p>My friend’s school, close to Dartmouth sent close to 10 kids their this year. Their school is competitive but 90 percent of the kids that got in had connections. Will that factor into the quota? I mean some of them were competitive but the other ones weren’t…</p>
<p>Haha, I wasn’t bragging about my school. I know it’s good; I was just worried it wouldn’t be good enough. But in the end, it comes down to me. Thanks for all the comments so far.</p>
<p>I’m confused. Do colleges look at you in the context of your school or your region?</p>
<p>Is it both? If so, what about a state like New Jersey (#1 population density!), where a school can be not-so competitive but surrounded by both very competitive schools and very weak schools? I wonder how big the regions are.</p>
<p>^Definitely both (read my post on page 2)</p>
<p>I can’t speak for the private schools, but from what I understand the University of California (UCs) schools look at “local context.” That is, based on what your high school offered, did you take challenging courses offered by your high school? If your high school (with a high API score) offered 42 AP classses, why did you take only one? If your high school did not offer AP classes, did you challenge yourself and perhaps take community colleges courses instead? They look at the school within a local context.</p>
<p>I go to a lower-level public school in MD. We’re ranked in the lower half of high schools in the state. The “best” students at my school have traditionally gone to Virginia Tech or, more rarely, UMCP (state flagship). The majority of students in my school who end up going to college go to community college. I don’t think we’ve had a single Ivy-caliber acceptance, ever. I was the first person to self-study AP exams at my school & the highest SAT score in my entire county was around a 2200. My county is not the most competitive county out there, and my school is considered to be one of the lower-tier schools in said county. </p>
<p>I am planning on taking the test for almost every single AP class offered at the school (with the exception of Music Theory), self-studying for a good portion of them & taking the class for the few I can fit into my schedule. I’m taking the most challenging courses at my school and acing them (this year I got 4 “best student in __” and was nominated for the honor in my other classes). I’m reasonably certain I’ll graduate, at the very least, top 3, but I do have a strong chance of becoming valedictorian. My other stats are standard Ivy-league stats. </p>
<p>So, will going to a “bad” public school improve my chances, be detrimental to my chances, or have no effect whatsoever?</p>
<p>It depends on the schools to which you apply, to a certain extent. some high school’s reputations are known by some regional reps. Sme colleges will have you compete against other students in your high school, but it is more than just grades and test scores that they evaluate.</p>
<p>You should be aware of what school your peers are applying to. You might want to diversify you list to add a couple of schools that you “superstar” peers do not have their sights on. Don’t go crazy though. There are many examples of No.4 getting into a school that the val was rejected by . . . it happens. They really do look at essays and ECs.</p>
<p>glido: What if a school is known for having a bad reputation? My HS has dealt with a few scandals…</p>
<p>Could that hurt my chances at some of the more-selective colleges?</p>
<p>Your high school’s reputation plays a very minor role in your selection. In fact, if you attend a less-than-stellar high school, but make an effort to take a rigorous curriculum (by taking courses at the local community college because your school doesn’t offer them) you will stand out as a much stronger candidate from a well-off high school because adcoms assume students with these resources take SAT-prep courses and have opportunities handed to them on a plate. (While this is certainly not true of all those from better, richer, etc. schools, it makes it harder for those students to stand out)</p>
<p>It partly depends on which college you are applying to, some are far more selective then others. Part of the reason many colleges use SAT/ACT scores is to be able to compare everyone on some standardized basis. They realize that all h.s. are not created equal, there are public/private schools, some are home schooled and you may live in a small or large city, etc… I really doubt they have the time or resources to evaluate every h.s. from which people are applying. Do the best you can wherever you go to h.s. and strive to excel on those standardized tests and the rest will take care of itself. </p>
<p>In most cases, it isn’t practical to change where you go to h.s…so there really isn’t any point in worrying if it will help/hurt your college application.</p>
<p>Colleges say they balance it all out, and I have no doubt they try. But frankly, if you went to a high school with a challenging curriculum, took advantage of the opportunities, and learned and grew from the process, you’re likely to be a stronger candidate than someone who did not have the same opportunities, no matter how hard s/he worked. </p>
<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>
<p>You’re asian, so its gonna be 2x tougher for you.</p>
<p>Nighthawk1: I wanted to take Spanish 2 at my local community college, but it wasn’t offered. Now I’m looking into online courses and they’re so expensive!</p>
<p>I will probably take calculus at my CC next year. My school only offers pre-calculus. </p>
<p>I’ve also heard from various alumni of my HS that when they went to college, they weren’t prepared at all. About 10 years ago, a girl got into Wake Forest and she said it was too difficult, so she transferred to a local college. </p>
<p>No one else (in at least the last 7 years) has gone anywhere besides my state school. I’m really afraid that I won’t get in anywhere…</p>
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<p>Is Peninsula really that ‘godly’? I think we only sent 1 to Harvard this year. </p>
<p>Also, any public school is at a competitive disadvantage with private prep schools. If you go to Harvard Westlake, the College Prep School, etc your chances at getting into top schools skyrocket. (I don’t think it’s simply the smarter students…)</p>
<p>I go to a school in NorCal that doesn’t have too bad scores (731 API) but has a notoriously bad rep according to other schools in the area (we had a school shooting in my freshman year). In the class of 2013, there are a lot of smart people but a lot of dumb people also, with few in the middle. I don’t have the best rank, (6 out of 706 due to a careless B in Freshman year), but academically I am dominant, especially when other factors are taken into consideration. For example, I was one of only 2 people to get a 5 on the AP Chemistry test and the AP World History test and the only one that got a 5 on both, I won the AMC 10 (but missed the AIME qualification by like 3 points… 
), and I won the CAML. Most of my peers near my rank level got PSAT scores around the 150-180 mark, while I got a 201. My ECs are a lot better than most of the people ahead of me. In that sense, will my dominance help me in HYPSM, ivy applications or will my school’s bad reputation cause them to overlook me?</p>
<p>Hi,
I don’t think the school rank matters as much as your standardized test score and overall gpa. Did you have a lot of extracurricular activities? That can be a factor too. College admission is definitely more competitive these days. I know a large percentage of enrolling freshmen at the UC schools had a 4.0 gpa or higher. It’s absurd.</p>
<p>So how do you distinguish yourself from the pack of HS seniors? The key is to apply as a major that does not usually have your demographic profile. Aim for an engineering degree. Most of the classes are usually male, so the odds of a female getting in are much higher. If you chose biomedical engineering or electrical engineering at Stanford or Northwestern your odds of getting in are much higher than if you chose to apply as a writing major (mostly female). </p>
<p>In addition, there’s nothing wrong with going in-state for undergraduate years because it saves money. The Ivy League schools are ridiculously expensive. It saves money to wait until graduate school to try for the elite Ivy League degrees because graduate students get far more financial aid than undergraduates.</p>
<p>Ah yes, only problem is that I am a stereotypical Asian male with a major in Astrophysics/physics (depending on school). My ECs are ok, I’m trying to get a few leadership positions in.</p>
<p>And I’m perfectly fine with in-state. I mean, I have to have financial safeties. But the reason I refer to HYPSM is because virtually no one at my school recently has gone to HYPSM. Last year one student went to Brown, the rest mostly went to UCs. I kind of want to break the trend of all the good students going to UCs.</p>
<p>So lets say your school is located in the ghetto but you still manage to have a high gpa and good SAT scores, would this look good or bad? Btw my city hasn’t sent any students to the ivy league in the 7 years that I have been here.</p>
<p>I attend a fairly prestigious parochial school in Wisconsin. My school is well-respected in the state but I am not sure how I will compare at schools in the East, especially because my school does not have a history of sending students to prestigious East Coast schools. (Not because it is a poor school, rather students prefer to stay in the Midwest.)
Will I have any advantage at Northeastern schools with respect to geographic distribution?
Do I have any disadvantage because my schools does not have a noted history of matriculation at such schools?</p>
<p>I actually go to probably the richest and most affluent school in one of the richest counties in the nation. Basically, its ridiculously competitive. My weighted gpa, which would be easily top 5 elsewhere in the county, may not even be top 10% in my class. I believe last year, almost a tenth of the graduating class was accepted into one ivy. </p>
<p>I dont think school competitiveness can hurt you if you go to one that isnt, but it can help you if you go to one that is</p>