Does your high school affect college chances?

letyor
Mon, 21 Nov 2011 02:15:15 +0000

Hey thanks for your thoughtful chance, I really appreciated it. I said I would reciprocate so here I am! I cannot say that I am an expert as I am only a senior but I’d be more than happy to give you my $.02.

From what every single college on my list (not the Ivys, but good none-the-less) have said is that they evaluate each student in the context of their high school. This is important “context.” So my first thought is that YES, they do have information about how your HS handles AP courses, grading, etc…Then to adress the loaded question. The easy answer is get straight As then you don’t have to worry, right? If you achieve at the highest possible level available at your HS, they can’t hold anything against you. But that isn’t the answer you wanted. Do colleges look at “prestige” I’ll answer like this because to me it is a chicken and egg issue - why is it Exeter kids get into many of the top schools (Ivys, Stanford, MIT)? Is it because Exeter is prestigious and Harvard knows that and is impressed by the name “Exeter” at the top of the application? Or maybe is it that Exeter only takes students who would have gotten into the ivys had they gone to their public school, local private school, or top-notch boarding school? Again, there is not a clear answer - and I would tend to come down somewhere in the middle. So here is my second answer to your question - do the best at your high school that you can do. If your best is a B at a top notch HS and Harvard still doesn’t want you, there was nothing you could have done.

Just want a straight, direct, answer to your question? I think colleges probably take notice of the school you went to and try to adjust accordingly - a B at your school most certainly means something different than a B at my school. It is all about the context so if at your school it is super hard to get an A and no one does and you have an A- average you will be good. Just remember some of my previous advice, too.