Alright I know I’m very fortunate to be in a competitive high school for the academic rigor and competitive enviroment. Now I’m beginning to realize that all my hardwork might not be paying off.
Just some background my school is ranked 3# in MA. US news nationally ranked. Last year we had 3 people accepted to cornell with a class size of 300.
Me I want to get into an “elite” school
top 5% of my class
3.85 UW gpa
4.4 UC gpa
haven’t taken SATs yet(i know a big factor)
I have 4.54 weighted gpa at my school(4.4 for Cal, 4.3 U michigan, 4.7 Georgetown, 4.8 Harvard based on previous acceptances)
I’m thinking that there are 4 people I know that would most likely be accepted over me to any school. These people have almost 4.0s. 2 actually didn’t make a mistake in freshman math, physics, and chem. Which at our school is unheard of even for valedictorians.
Will I never get into any top 15# schools like Cal or Vanderbuilt due to the very bright students who will likely apply to many of the universities I would like to gain admission. I get feeling that if I had gone to a worse school my chances of admission would be higher.
—Sadly if I do not get accepted too an elite school. It may make more finaincial sense to go to UMASS. But if you don’t know unlike many states we don’t have the best state schools. If only i lived in CA under the UC system.
Talk to your eminently qualified GC to see where similar students were accepted. You are fortunate so you need to get over the “if only”. If you attended a lesser school you might be #1 but you also might not get that “recognized school” bump that can happen.
You are not “screwed over.” Your HS grades, curriculum etc. are reviewed in the context of the school you attend. If indeed you are at an elite HS, then it could well be that a number of students (not just the top few) get into “elite” (not quite sure how you define that) colleges. Wait until you get your SATs (study hard for them) and then you can talk to your guidance counselor to get a sense of where students with your stats have ended up in the past. In addition, if you do well on your standardized tests, there may be schools where you could qualify for merit aid to make them affordable.
I think it is better to come from a school that is considered rigorous than it is to come from an unknown school. My kids go to a private college prep school that sends many students to elite colleges. I think that you can look beyond the top 15 for excellent universities. There are many top 50 universities that would be happy to have a student like you, and might even offer you a nice scholarship.
Your stats are competitive and you will absolutely have options if your SAT/ACT matches your GPA. Don’t feel sorry for yourself at your competitive high school - there are many kids just like you in CA so just focus on what you can control.
There are thousands and thousands of students who work really hard and dont get into elite colleges. You might be one of them, but maybe you will get into a great college where the students aren’t cut throat and there is some other great factor that Harvard doesn’t have.
You are definitely not ‘screwed’. My son’s prep school had over 50% of the class accepted at Michigan - and not everyone applied - some with GPA’s well below Michigan’s 25th percentile! It is all about the high school. Michigan State accepted nearly 100% of applicants and turned around admissions decisions in ten days under a special program for his high school. Colleges definitely favor certain high schools.
Congratulations on having strong marks in a rigorous curriculum in a competitive high school.
Your marks will qualify you for any college. When you have test scores you will know whether they do as well. But: those are necessary but not sufficient elements of your application.
So, what are you doing with the time you are not in class or studying? The people who get into the super selective schools typically have high gpa + high test scores AND…
…it is the AND that you need to answer. It could be an EC or outside of school activity that you love, have shown a long and deep commitment to, and leadership in, and can talk about in an interesting way. It could that your summers are spent scooping ice cream to save money for college, or babysitting for your siblings b/c daycare is too expensive for your family. It could be…anything in which you have invested a lot of yourself. But the top schools are very clear: they want to know what else you do with your time beyond the classroom.