<p>So, im going to a no-name high school with an average ACT score of 21 and an 8 on GreatSchools rating… so am I doomed? The surrounding areas were better school districts, and instead i was stuck in this local high school. Do I have a chance for a top university? Do universities really look at how good your high school is? Knew anyone who went into a no name hs but got accepted into a top university? What really amkes it painful is because I’m an ambitious and great student. There’s less opportunities in this high school… :(</p>
<p>Yes, I heard Harvard throws out applications if they aren’t from Exeter or Andover.</p>
<p>Chances are, it’ll be easier to get a higher GPA and you’ll have more free time to do extracurricular activities. So you might actually increase your chances of getting into a top university.</p>
<p>Yep. You’re doomed. </p>
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<p>@000Chet That’s hilarious!</p>
<p>@aliah21 Most high schools are no name high schools. Mine is. Please think about your question. Are you worried that you’re not going to be motivated to excel because the people around you aren’t? Make the most of what you have. No. Colleges don’t care how great your high school is. They care about what you did with what the school had to offer.</p>
<p>Do I know anyone who went to a no name high school but got accepted into a top university?
From my school, class of 2013, average, run of the mill, public high school (the kind most people go to by the way), acceptances to:</p>
<p>University of Virginia (about 15)
William & Mary (again about 15)
Virgina Tech (about 15)
Notre Dame
University of Pennsylvania
University of Michigan
Brandeis University
Bowdoin College</p>
<p>That’s what I can think of off the top of my head.</p>
<p>You’re an ambitious and great student. So do great things.</p>
<p>
Yes. Just take the most rigorous classes available, attain high grades, achieve high test scores, and do extracurriculars you love.
They take your GPA into context.
Yes, I know 3 people that went to Stanford and 1 that went to Harvard. Their school’s average SAT ranged from 1200-1400. It’s better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond in my opinion.</p>
<p>All high schools are no-name. The general population has never heard of Exeter or any other fancy high school. </p>
<p>It’s actually better to go to a low-achieving high school because you don’t have to do nearly as much to be impressive. Colleges know most people don’t have control over where they go and they’re not going to intentionally penalize you for your school. Admissions officers don’t generally come from wealthy backgrounds, and looking overprivileged is NOT a good thing.</p>
<p>People from low-achieving high schools are less likely to go to top schools because they’re less likely to apply to them in the first place.</p>
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<p>Me, hopefully.</p>
<p>000Chet, you mean I still have a chance to work there?!?! I thought I’d be doomed to work for my local gas station. Good to know that I still have a chance to work at a nationally recognized place!</p>
<p>But really, OP, no one, not even the adcoms, care about where you go to school. They care about what YOU do.</p>
<p>
MIT a couple of years ago, and like 5 Naval Academy appointments in the past 10 years. Also, UVa, but that’s in-state for me so it’s not quite as hard as OOS (we had like 5-10 this past year).</p>
<p>Our school’s average 11th grade PSAT last year was a 121 - for reference’s sake, that’s about the equivalent of a 16.5 on the ACT. At the same time, we had one kid go to Notre Dame a couple years ago, we had one go to Princeton two years ago, one to Vanderbilt last year, and a few to West Point over the past couple years.</p>
<p>On average, our school is honestly pretty garbage. But there’s nothing stopping the occasional anomaly from occurring. You want to be that anomaly! </p>
<p>(and honestly, like people said: you’re actually at an advantage. big fish in a small pond syndrome = easy to get a high class rank, much easier time getting leadership positions, making the varsity team for your sport, and so on… if your school is actually considered underprivileged it is even better because colleges will generally have more lax expectations than you would if you came from an overprivileged high school)</p>
<p>Then why do people on chances threads always claim that if you’ve had a high amount of graduates from your high school matriculate to top schools, you in turn have a better chance at getting in? Is that just some measure of a schools competitiveness? Or is that just because it was a chances thread lol.</p>
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<p>They have more resources and better advising.
I imagine the top private high schools are still feeder schools on some level. But colleges are trying to create socioeconomic diversity, so you can definitely get in from somewhere else.</p>
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<p>My school doesn’t have a real average PSAT score because all the juniors except me and, like, two other kids thought it was a sophomore-only test. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Yes it measures how competitive a school is. But you can get into a good school no matter where you go if you put in the same effort and creativity as someone from a better school.</p>
<p>I went to an urban high school where the average SAT was in the 1300’s, but the top 20 kids in the class got into fine places like UVA, UNC-CH, Penn State (me), NC State, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to hijack or anything, but for the sake of discussion, if I go to a school that’s 700-800 best high school in the country (not saying which one), would that affect me positively or negatively? Thanks</p>
<p>Ok, seriously, does the high school you go to actually affect what college you go to? Because that sounds dumb. Why would colleges penalize you for going to a particular school? I mean, as long as you make use of everything your school has to offer, doesn’t that mean you’re good?</p>
<p>Yaki - A lot of universities openly say they don’t rank or recognize ‘prestige’ of high schools.</p>
<p>No one complains more about the college boards than I do, but if there is a benefit, then getting a great board score will equalize the reputation of the high school. However 21 is way too low. Do what you got to do to get it up.</p>
<p>Let’s put it this way… you have 0 chance at a top school with a 21 ACT, regardless of your high school.</p>
<p>I go to an average public school. Typical above average student. I’ll be going to a top 50 school.</p>
<p>To the two posters above me: He said the average ACT of his high school is 21, not that his ACT score is 21…</p>
<p>I see. I took it that he has an average ACT score of 21.</p>
<p>To OP, colleges take in context your rank and the opportunities you had and took advantage of you. As long as you have solid stats you can get into a top school.</p>