<p>“Are there quotas for admitted students in my HS? Am I competing against my peers?”</p>
<p>This is an often-asked question and I answer it the same: NO.</p>
<p>To assume that selective colleges have quotas (either min or max) at your school assumes they are setting aside slots for some other school (to make someone happy) or setting aside slots FOR your school( to make someone happy). The top schools *are under no pressure to please anyone at your HS *so therefore feel the complete freedom to admit as many as they want or as few as they want for years on end. The individual applicant is what matters most and the schools will admit solely to meet their own goals – not some perceived repuatation at your school.</p>
<p>@BFS, your anecdote of consistent admit nos. seems like coincidence to me. In my experience, the top schools in my area get very differing admit #s from my HYP alma mater.</p>
<p>Plus students are not admitted in one mass pool. If one year your school has the nation’s top 2 water polo players but also 2 science prodigies – top school X may well admit four. The very next year, only two science prodigies apply – guess what? Only 2 get offers of admission. For this “admission by category” read this [Reed</a> College | Admission | Reed College Admission Office](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/admission_messages.html]Reed”>http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/admission_messages.html)</p>