Selective colleges generally have different expectations for students who go to school in an environment with fewer opportunities. For example, the Stanford admissions website states, students should have “taken full advantage of the opportunities available to you in high school.” Harvard states “having taken the most rigorous secondary school curriculum available to them.” Both emphasize available opportunities, rather than listing specific details about advanced classes or a specific number of AP classes. Students who go to a HS with only 1 AP class aren’t expected to take as many AP or advanced classes as a student who goes to TJ. Similarly a top SAT score would probably look more impressive coming from a student at a basic public school that almost never has national merit finalists than from a student TJ where a good portion of the class is national merit scholars.</p>
<p>I have a relative who was accepted to Stanford without having taken a single AP or honors course. She went to an extremely small HS that did not offer multiple-level courses, such as honors and non-honors. I was accepted to Stanford, MIT and some ivies with stats that would look extremely weak compared to the selective college threads we see on CC, such as 3.4/3.5 HS GPA and 500 verbal SAT. I believe one the main reasons I stood out was because of my basic HS background. For example, when I ran out of advanced classes at my basic HS, I took classes at nearby colleges, such as SUNY and RPI. I came in with nearly a year of college transfer credit, all at 4.0 GPA. This was likely more college courses than any graduate in the history of my HS (at the time). Comments with details like that from a GC along with seeing that I made the effort to go beyond what was available to me at my HS would mean far more than a student taking similar classes at TJ, which were available in the usual TJ class schedule. While at SUNY, RPI, and Stanford, I did not feel unprepared in STEM classes (excluding an honors-type physics class that was intended for physics majors who had “mastered” AP Physics, a class that wasn’t available in my HS). Instead I achieved high enough grades in STEM classes to be accepted to coterm in two engineering grad programs at Stanford.</p>
<p>In theory, that is more than adequate – at almost all schools (Caltech and Harvey Mudd being exceptions), students are expected to be ready for calculus, and have had normal high school level courses in the sciences; calculus or other AP courses are not required. However, it is the quality of courses in many high schools that is lacking. This includes AP courses, given the large number of 1 and 2 scores on many AP tests.</p>
<p>Better to go to a more competitive HS. The trick is that more people will be applying to very competitive schools, and one of the diversity measures is not taking too many kids from one high school. </p>
<p>If your daughter has very good extracurriculars, that will help immensely. I know that those at my HS who did not get into their colleges of choice had extracurriculars that were very narrow and only a few - equestrian (state level) and youth religious organization (the national president, with thousands of members). </p>
<p>Getting into a great college is a crapshoot, but anyone can try to transfer if they are doing very well.</p>
<p>I don’t know but at my high school the admission rate was 7% when I applied. It had some great people, but so competitive classes. But had a great experience. I don’t know what will happen to me admission, but I’m happy with the experience.</p>
<p>Oh my gosh, I just have to weigh in. I have to strongly advise YES, get the most rigorous high school education you can, but keep these things in mind:
If applying to college outside your region, they won’t know or care that your B means more than a local public school A. If you’re going to get B’s, your scholarships are going to someone who got As for showing up.
If applying to regional colleges, you will be given fair credit for your effort.
If applying to Ivy’s you better just get As.
Regardless, you will do better in college with better preparation.
If your family has money and your financial aid is dependent on scholarships, do what you need to do to get great grades or you’ll be paying sticker price.
If your family doesn’t have money, do what you need to do to get good grades to minimize your debt.
Two kids applied throughout the country to competitive LACs:
homeschooled, 3.86, ACT 21 - 10 scholarship offers between $40,000 and $80,000
rigorous prep school and numerous APs, 3.4, ACT 27 - Nuthin’ - Paying in full
It’s just not fair. Having a hard time getting over it.</p>
<p>I think you send them to where they will be happy and challenged and not worry about GPA and college admissions. It is not the HS that gets the kid into a college it is the kid. If the kid is engaged and happy at the elite HS then great. If the kid feels beaten down by the pressure, I’d take my kid out. HS is not really about getting into college, because smart kids don’t have to go to Harvard to realize their potential. It’s about developing skills and interests for whatever you chose to do in the future.</p>
<p>Amen to that. It will be hard to know which path yields the more appropriate college admissions. So strive for making hs challenging, but not overwhelming.</p>
<p>Smart kids from poor families need high grades to get into the colleges with the best financial aid or get large merit scholarships at other colleges.</p>
<p>Of course, the high school’s courses must be of sufficient quality that A or B* students in college prep courses will not have to take remedial courses in college, and students in AP courses will generally get AP scores matching their course grades (A students get 5 scores, B students get 4 scores, etc.).</p>
<p>*Should really be that A, B, and C grades in college prep courses indicate solid passing of the material so that remedial work is not needed, but that may be an unrealistically high expectation in these days of grade inflation.</p>
<p>NewstudentMom- my daughter has taken a few college classes on the campus as well as the high school ones and says the same thing: 1) the college classes are EASIER, and 2) 9 (high school, but college level) classes is too many (and that’s what she took her first semester!).</p>
<p>It depends on the child and where they hope to go…from a college admissions standpoint, some schools do limit the number of students from a certain high school or region each year (they want diversity.) Also, what is this school’s relationship to colleges? Does the school have a good rep. with admissions dept? (Call a few and ask - what do you think of this high school? Have they even heard of it?) If you could visit admissions off peak, even better. What do you think of the guidance dept? Do they have many students admitted to colleges like the ones your child may be interested in? i.e. more state admissions, than private, more small schools than large, top tier, etc. IMHO, if student is willing to learn more and do more - they can’t go wrong! Some children want a tough academic challenge. and yes, some leadership/initiative positions do matter but with homeschooling these can be achieved through scouting, community sports, volunteering, small business enterprises, etc. Learn more about specific colleges. Start daughter building a resume, contacts, etc.</p>
<p>I mean I think in this day in age it could actually hurt you… At a lower achieving school you may have to take more initiative in your extra-curriculars, but grade wise you don’t have to be quite so on top of things. Ppl at the best schools compete with the best and since colleges compare you to ppl in your school they’re kinda screwed</p>
<p>Our D knows someone who attended a well-known science and technology magnet school, while her identical twin attended their local high school. (She had applied to the magnet school but was not accepted.) The sister who attended the magnet school worked extremely hard, played a sport, and ended up matriculating at Princeton. The one who attended the local high school, took things more easily, enjoyed life and partied more. She matriculated at Princeton. To be fair, they were legacies, but their outcomes at other schools were not that different.</p>
<p>Well I can’t speak from personal experience, but some of my friends and other people I know that graduated from my IB school said it made college way easier. One in particular commented on how the IB improved their quality of writing. They said that they often get compliments from their professors about it.</p>
<p>Also, I think it might boost admissions? Not too sure about this to be honest, though I do have one senior friend who got accepted to Harvard, Brown, and Yale, and another who was accepted to MIT and Stanford. Not sure if IB had anything to do with it though, I am no admissions officer.</p>
<p>I go to a private school (11% acceptance rate) and my opinion is that regardless where I end up for college, I will not regret my decision to attend my high school. It has offered me so many opportunities I would never have been able to have otherwise and I think it’s matured and taught me so many things.
I also think the independence I have learned at my school (boarding school) will greatly prepare me for college.</p>
<p>The school admins keep assuring everyone that top colleges KNOW the schools that are rigorous from the schools at which almost any breathing person can get straight A’s and take that into consideration.</p>
<p>I wonder though. The truth is that if you went to an easy high school, college is going to be a shock, I imagine, and require remediation, whereas if you can get it to the top colleges, despite a few B’s, because of the intense rigor of your high school (this assumes they know!), college should be a pretty easy transition.</p>
<p>I don’t know how it will all shake out, but I do hope that colleges recognize the value of challenging yourself, when it would have been easy to stay top dog at an easier school…</p>
<p>Here’s another thought–if you’re deciding whether to go to a magnet in your own community vs. the “base” school–remember that if you don’t go to the magnet, somebody else will. It’s not like that magnet and all those highly able kids in it will disappear from the scene just because you are at your base school. And the top colleges know that the magnet is available in your community–and they’ll know you didn’t go there. I’m not sure how much a difference any of this makes–I guess I just think it’s better to go to the high school that fits you best, and not worry too much about what it does to your college chances. You just can’t know.</p>
<p>Some of my kids’ friends who were obvious “magnet material” did not go to the magnets – either because the transportation challenges were too difficult for their families or because they did not like the curricula at the magnets. They did not seem to be penalized in terms of college admissions.</p>
<p>I’m sure you’re right, Marian–my point is that you really can’t tell which decision is strategically better. I think it’s better to make the decision based on which high school experience will be better. That’s hard enough to figure out without trying to game out what Harvard will think about it.</p>