Does the Applicants High School Matter?

T26E4
Sat, 24 Nov 2012 23:06:47 +0000

Don’t obsess over the “grass being greener” at other schools where you could easily envision yourself as the valedictorian, for instance.

Some anecdotes for you:

1. val at an inner city HS , got full ride scholarship to UMich. She was overwhelmed and dropped after 1 year. Eventually got a degree but she was not very prepared for high level college work

2) neighbors’ kids here in my school district. A-/B+ kids. Went to large state school – not particularly selective. But they and their friends have dominated their classes b/c at our well resourced schools, the teachers were free to teach and had very high expectations. My friends’ kids told me they were head & shoulders more prepared than other freshmen.

Thus, top colleges know how to read all the subtleties. Of course they look at the quality of a HS.

and to be frank, the val of a very sub-performing HS might have a 22 ACT and a 3.5 GPA with maybe a dozen or so fellow graduating seniors planning on enrolling in any 4 year college. How does that compare with your HS?