<p>I'm freaking out a bit right here. My school, which is in an affluent area, sends about 2 kids to Ivies or other top tier schools and the rest to bad state school (class of 350). </p>
<p>On the other hand, my brother is going to a prep school and about half the class gets into Ivies or top tiers. Its similar to the NYC prep school like Dalton or Riverdale.</p>
<p>Is coming from my bad school a disadvantage, and will I get into the same caliber of schools that I would if I had gone to a prep school?</p>
<p>I'm applying ED Barnard or UPenn, but nobody in the history of my school has gotten into either.</p>
<p>My app is fine-2300 SAT, 95 uw GPA, prestigious internships, study 3 languages, published research, but will my school be my downfall?</p>
<p>Time to put on the thinking cap: the prep schools are selective on whom they admit – proven scholars – likely from very affluent families. All advantages in preparing for top school admissions.</p>
<p>It’s like people drool about Ivy-grad med school accept rates. Why does Yale have 93% med school accept versus a large public state school which may only have 20%? The pools are different.</p>
<p>Same with the prep school versus your HS. But don’t worry. The colleges are looking for individuals, not what HS you attended. Congrats on your academic achievements to date. It seems very likely you’ll be attending an excellent college next year. Maybe Bernard or UPenn, maybe not. But you’ll definitely be a desired candidate by many sorts of schools.</p>
<p>I guess, but people have said if I went to prep school, i would be a “shoo-in” for Harvard/Yale. And it just seems so easy for those people to get into good schools, while ill probably end up not getting into any top 20 schools.</p>
<p>obviously you haven’t provided many stats but if i had to make a guess based solely on what you said, i’d say you’re definitely bound for a top 20 school, treehugga.</p>
<p>TH: the vast majority of admittees to top 20 schools are not prep school grads. Just not the case. I went to an urban HS, accepted at all schools applied, eventually matriculating at an HYP.</p>
<p>Really? This makes me feel better. But its just so scary looking at my schools Naviance…it can’t give me any “match” schools because there is too little data for my stats.</p>
<p>Prep schools/private schools MATTER ALOT in college admissions. For proof, just go to any collge website and they will break out the percent admitted from private vs. public schools. Even assuming it is 50/50, there are TONS more public schools than private schools and so private schools clearly have an edge. Further, within the private school ranks, I assume the top 20 - 25 represent a disproportionate number (compared to their own graduating class size) of those private schools. Yes, private schools make a huge difference. Locally, here, there will be one a year from a class of 600 in a nationally top-ranked public school that gets into Harvard, whereas 3 - 5 always get in from the local private girls school down the road with 120 graduates. Same stats apply to the other Ivies and name schools. Sorry, but your parents blew it by not sending you private. You should feel bad. You are at a disadvantage. No sugar coating. Sorry for you.</p>
<p>Kellybbk adds yet another half-baked post. No where does he/she compare and contrast the typical abilities of the average grad of the private grad school versus the top ranked but large public school. Puh-leez.</p>
<p>If taken into account, I think the gap closes enormously. That being said, doubtlessly some privates can boast of great resources and experience at funneling their students to top schools.</p>
<p>“You should feel bad. You are at a disadvantage. No sugar coating. Sorry for you.”</p>
<p>And you should be ashamed of yourself – taunting sincere HS students who clearly are looking for constructive advice. Instead you mock them with your half truths. Sheesh.</p>
<p>kellybbk is definitely wrong. All the elite and ivy colleges/universities do NOT have a quota for acceptances inside a High School. It is written on their own WEBSITE. That means that the university looks at the INDIVIDUAL students ACCOMPLISHMENTS in relation to the schools RESOURCES. Not the school itself. Kelly shows no proof that private schools are any better then a public school other then “I can afford it” tag which top schools care nothing about. They want students, not machine-produced numbers from a elite prep school they have a quota on. </p>
<p>Needless to say, what high school you go to has no bearings on your admissions. You have to make most of your High School, that is all. </p>
<p>The reason why the prep school has more admits to Ivy leagues are because they induct much more competitive and qualified students, whereas public schools (regular, not elite public schools) induct almost anyone with a minimum grade or even anyone in the local area. So based on that fact alone, you can see why people from the prep school has more admits to Ivy anyway.</p>
<p>I go to a T10 NE boarding school, and honestly I think it has something more to do with the students and their backgrounds than the actual school name itself. Most of the kids in my class are self-motivated, have a good deal of common sense, and come from pretty wealthy families, but it’s not like you can’t find smart, diligent students at local public high schools either.</p>
<p>So honestly, I’d really not worry about it OP. From your stats alone you should be able to attend a top tier school and stand a chance at ivy league admissions.</p>
<p>Prep schools probably do provide some advantages. For example, they may very well provide better college admissions counseling–but since you’re on CC, you can get a lot of the same info here, for free.
The other thing prep schools provide (which is also provided by well-known public schools) is a known quantity–colleges know what the grades and course choices mean for kids who graduate from Harvard-Westlake or Stuyvesant. This may put a bit more burden on you to make sure that your application really makes your accomplishments clear.</p>
<p>That is probably true. But I’d assume that any student with As, 2200+ SATs, and a transcript littered with AP Classes, is an academically qualified student regardless of their high school background.</p>
<p>Ok, thanks guys! My high school grades really harshly, but i don’t think colleges would know that, so hopefully my grades will be decent enough. My brother’s prep school has an average grade of an A-, whereas my school is a C-.</p>
Sure. But being qualified and getting in aren’t the same. If you get bad advice, you can lessen your chances of getting in to the school you want. From what I’ve seen, unfortunately many public school guidance counselors don’t give the best advice for kids who are aiming at Ivy-level schools, probably because they don’t see many kids like that (while the prep school GCs see plenty). They might say things like, “Two or three reach schools are enough.” Well, no, they aren’t if they are Harvard, Yale and Princeton. But again, some time on CC can help a lot with this.</p>
<p>Some schools send more kids to Ivies because more kids from those schools APPLY to Ivies in the first place. </p>
<p>Everyone - relax. Colleges know that the vast majority of students are in high schools simply because that’s where their parents either chose to live or insisted on sending them. They are not interested solely in building a class from Harvard-Westlake, Exeter or Andover, nor are they interested solely in building a class from Grosse Pointe, Greenwich, Scarsdale and New Trier. Please stop thinking it’s about your school. It’s about you and what you’ve done in the context of your school. I was VERY freaked out about this issue, and now that I’m on the other side of the process (meaning my kids are in), I realize that colleges are smarter than you give them credit for.</p>
<p>The kids send themselves to Ivies, I belive, not the school generally.
High stats school tend to have more competitions and opportunities for AP classes and students tend to compete against each other. Kids in low-stat school are more chill, but if they go above and beyond their friends, I believe they can be successful too.</p>