<p>I attend a Title 1(which means that is receives a little extra funding because a large percentage of the students are low income) inner city high school. Some people have told me that going to this school will help my college chances because colleges want diversity. However, my school offers fewer advanced classes than wealthier schools and the classes tend to be easier. Do you think my school will hurt or help my college chances?
(Oh just so you know I absolutely love my school. It is one of the most diverse, welcoming and non-judgemental places you could imagine. I would never consider switching.)
About me:
White girl, 4.0 GPA(so far)
athlete and musician</p>
<p>It depends on whether the quality of the courses you take is sufficient to prepare you for college work, and whether there are sufficient offerings of quality courses for you to take.</p>
<p>Two schools with similar mediocre averages may be very different in how well they serve the college bound 4.0 students. (A similar observation may apply to colleges and high achieving college students.)</p>
<p>Colleges don’t hold it against students who attend schools that don’t offer a lot of AP or other advanced classes. There are plenty of small rural high schools that can’t offer these classes either. Take the most rigorous classes you can. That being said, standardized test scores(SAT/ACT) will help schools to evaluate how well your HS has prepared you for college level work. What year are you in school? Have you taken any standardized tests?</p>
<p>Many selective colleges are actively recruiting students who go to schools like yours. Socioeconomic diversity is the goal these days.</p>
<p>There are many selective schools that do not require standardized tests. You can take them and see how you do, then decide whether to submit. Merit scholarships often require test scores, but financial aid does not.</p>
<p>[SAT/ACT</a> Optional 4-Year Universities | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]SAT/ACT”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest)</p>
<p>Obviously, attending a school that is not stellar will not in itself get you into schools. It will just get you added attention if you have achieved excellence, whether academic or in some other area such as athletics or music. In other words, it is great if you can exceed your environment somehow, if possible.</p>
<p>This does not mean that not taking AP classes because the school doesn’t offer them, will hurt you at all. Also, colleges are making an effort to honor kids who have to work at the drug store or fast food rather than doing something interesting, but expensive, in the summers. Or who have working parents who cannot drive them to special activities.</p>
<p>But the reality is, achievement of some kind is what will help you get in, and if it is on your own steam, all the better. (Just my opinion.)</p>
<p>I’m going to give somewhat different advice. </p>
<p>Are there other kids from your high school who have gone on to top schools? If it’s common for this to happen, your counselor probably can help guide you through the process. If not…you need to do some research. </p>
<p>You are white. You don’t add any diversity that way. Does your family have limited means? If so, you may add some diversity that way. Are you the first in your family to go to college? If so, that adds diversity too. But, if you are from a middle class family with 2 college educated parents and just go to a high school which has a lot of poor kids in it, that’s not going to earn you many diversity points. That goes double if you are within some special “track” within it. (This may not be the case in your school, but many inner city schools divide students by ability level.) Most major cities send a lot of kids to top colleges, so you are unlikely to add geographic diversity.</p>
<p>Search for ways to excel in activities or interests beyond your school. For example, if you are a good musician, you may be able to try for things like all-state orchestra or a semi-professional orchestra or enter contests or…do something else that allows a college to gauge just how good a musician you are. Are you good enough to play your sport in college–not necessarily at the Division 1 level, but good enough to play in Division 2 or 3?</p>
<p>You may want to participate in summer programs like a Governor’s School or CTY or a program at your local college.</p>
<p>Take the most rigorous courses your school does offer. Take practice SAT II tests. If you score well, take them (even if you are planning to submit the ACT.) </p>
<p>If you excel in math, check out the USAMTS. If you excel in science, consider doing research–are there any colleges near you, where you might be able to get a summer internship in a lab? Can you do an Intel or Siemens project or enter a local science fair? If you write well, consider enter an essay contest. (Check out fastweb for contests, etc.)</p>
<p>You certainly CAN get into a top college from an inner city high school with lots of poor kids. However, as a white kid, presumably a middle class one, you need not only to excel in your school, but also reach out to find other programs and activities beyond it. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Your school may not offer as much intensity academically so it is up to you to learn as much as you can to give yourself the best knowledge base for college. You need to take the most rigorous classes available and do well in them. Consider adding any extra academics you can. Avoid study halls- take that extra class instead. Work hard.</p>
<p>Diversity counts in the student, not the school. Colleges will recognize that you did not have all of the offerings some schools do but they will expect you to be able to handle their program. Show them you can do it with the above.</p>
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<p>^ this</p>
<p>Colleges will understand your lack of opportunity but (the tippy top) will expect you to " go after" what is not provided. If you only rise to the level of your HS, you will have a hard time competing with those that have gone to “more rigorous” high school’s. You need to show the college you are able to seek out what you are missing. This doesn’t mean self studying a lot of AP’s…it means going further in the subjects you’re interested in. Look for opportunities at a local college, community college, or by working on projects with your peers.</p>
<p>If you want to go beyond your schools, offerings, you can achieve excellence academically by taking community college classes, or online high school or college classes, or going to a college or university extension division. Virtual High School offers classes in many areas and has students from all over the world. Our school has joined VHS, so classes are free, but on your own, they cost around $400. Community colleges have dual enrollment with scholarships for high school students: is there one near you, or could you take something online?</p>
<p>For music, if you live near a conservatory, take some classes at their preparatory school. Or, as others have said, participate in an orchestra or ensembles outside of school as well as whatever you do in school. </p>
<p>Volunteer or intern in areas that you are really interested in.</p>
<p>I never, ever suggest any of this for the sake of getting in to college, however. Only because these activities satisfy a need or drive that you have for learning something specific to your interests.</p>
<p>You sound like a great kid. I love what you said about your school. I honestly think that if you just naturally follow your interests and try to maximize whatever opportunities are possible, you will do just fine and end up at a school that you love. It may be that you will want a college with the same values as your high school! I hope you will enjoy high school without worrying too much about college admissions.</p>
<p>At any rate, I have heard lots of talk about socioeconomic diversity on top college campuses in recent years. Not racial, socioeconomic. In fact, Harvard just announced a new effort to recruit students from schools that usually don’t send students there. So, as long as you show you can do the work in some way, or you can add to campus life, going to a lower quality high school won’t hurt and may help.</p>