Hi there! I have been one of the few students to be granted admission as a transfer student to my dream Catholic high school. Everything in my heart is telling me to go here, the people, tradition, history, academics, etc, and I really want to be a part of that. However, this is a rigorous Catholic high school, and I’m scared it will hurt my chances of getting into an Ivy League or other elite university because 70% of the students that go there take all or almost all honors classes their freshman year, while I only took 1 honors class. They also achieve stellar grades and test scores. In addition, elite colleges can only get 2 to 5 people from each high school, and I’m scared taking only 1 honors class will hurt me. Especially when this school is insanely competitive. I will take all honors and maybe one AP class this year if I go to this private school. (Money will not be an issue BTW) I greatly want to attend this school, but at the same time want to get into my dream colleges and universities such as Yale and Harvard. I am a highly motivated student and will do anything to succeed. Can someone help me out? Thanks!
Do students from your current school typically get into yale and harvard? If not, are you really giving anything up by changing schools? If you are currently top of your class and taking all the highest level classes, you may be hurting yourself by transferring because you may not stand out as much at the Catholic school.
You will likely be in the same ‘group’ as the students from this Catholic school since you are in the same city. It is unlikely HYP says ‘We will take 5 students from St. Paul’s but none from Public High’ but more likely ‘These 20 students from City X are all qualified.’ They will not take all 20, but that group is qualified.
It sounds like a school that will push you. Get as much out of it as you can. Get high test schools.
Agree with the above - I was in a similar situation a few years ago between staying at my neighborhood public school, which is plenty good, or going to either a school with a reputation for much harsher grading or an expensive private school (both of which were schools with more “name recognition” and prestige). Compared to the differences between colleges, the differences between high schools are almost trivial by comparison, so much that I doubt elite colleges take “name recognition” into account for admissions. Not worth making my parents spend a few dozen k $$$/yr for.
Top colleges are Unlikely to take more than 2 or 3 people from each school as they want to balance their classes rather than fill up entirely with snobbish private school graduates (any more than they already are… lol). So being the single qualified applicant or one of 2-3 from a big public school where applying Ivy is not common can put you at a big advantage compared to being one of 20 from a private school where all the kids are vying for a spot. Of course it all depends on you, you still need to get good grades, awesome test scores, leadership and teacher recs (all of which aside from test scores are easier if you’re the standout in the school than if you’re just another Ivy-hopeful that are a dime a dozen). Plus you will probably learn the same amount (since the AP curriculum is the same everywhere) while having more opportunities to volunteer and make a difference in a student population that has more need
You need to compare the specific high schools in question in terms of academic offerings, general academic quality, and counseling support for applications to super-selective colleges. Since you did not mention anything about your current high school, no one else can do that for you.
Verify with your parents that the cost of attending the private high school will not make them unable to afford the cost of sending you to the colleges you desire (you/they can check the colleges’ net price calculators).
Colleges don’t take 1 or 2 from a high school because they don’t want to over represent one school. It is because they are only looking for 2,000 acceptances from 35,000 high schools. The odds of having more than one is really low. If they want to take more they will. Harvard took 16 from Andover last year. Yale took 4 from my local flyover state public last year.
Go where you are excited and feel like you will have the best high school experience. Yale and Harvard are long shots for everyone. Dont make your high school admission decision based on something down the road.
@ucbalumnus I have verified the pricing with my parents. In addition, my public high school offers no AP classes until junior year, and does not consist of as many high-achieving academic students. This is why I feel like I would stand out more at my public high school.
My general advice is that if you will be exposed at a “better” school for being less than stellar, odds are extremely good that you will somehow be exposed even without going to that school. In other words, the HYP dream isn’t going to happen either way. They want kids who want the challenge and then will thrive, not ones who worry surviving it.
Go where you will have the best experience and education. And don’t forget that many of the excellent catholic high schools have very good relationships with AOs at top catholic universities like ND and Georgetown, who will know how well prepared graduates from that school are.
If it’s your dream high school, go for it. It’d be terrible to pass up the opportunity for something that’s a long shot anyway.
Oh, I don’t know.
I teach in a college prep Catholic HS.
Our Salutatorian is going to Yale.
@bjkmom , I read the OP’s concern to be not that the Catholic school would not be attractive to the ivies, but that OP could not stand out among the other students there. The “I could be top at my LPS but may not be top 10% at this school” worry. I didn’t think that there was a concern that going to this school was in and of itself an impediment. Did I miss the point? (It’s happened! )
I am not an admissions counselor so this is an outsider’s opinion so take it with whatever grains of salt you have handy.
I think that top colleges like to see kids who look for academic challenges, take them on, and succeed. They want to see kids who push themselves to be better. You are deliberately seeking a more rigorous learning environment. I suspect that your first year experience might make an excellent essay about being thrown in at the deep end of an intellectual pool and learning to swim.
Kids who started at the earliest point have a leg up on you, yes. But if you take on the challenge and show that you can run fast enough to catch up with the pack by the end of your high school years you will have demonstrated a higher potential than the kids who started with A’s and cruised through.
The caveat is that you have to work harder than everyone else at school to succeed in this plan. Do you have what it takes to do that? If you do, I suspect that the top schools will be falling over themselves to admit you.
@CollegeFreak9488 - As a rising sophomore at Yale who transferred from a large public school system(where 65% of students received reduced or free lunch) to an extremely rigorous, challenging and intellectually engaging prep school in the 9th grade, I completely agree with @ninakatarina. Firstly, since the “high school of your dreams” accepted you, you should be over the moon that fresh eyes have looked at you and decided that you will flourish at their academically challenging school. I understand why you are nervous, but it is likely that the new school will have teachers that push you to think and write more clearly; that will provide individualized attention and support if you need it; and peers who will inspire you to do your best, every day. Secondly, even if your GPA is somewhat lower than it would be in your current public school, AOs will expect that and respect the courage and intellectual curiosity that motivated you to transfer. However, if you feel that you are being adequately challenged in your current school, have close friends and participate in sports or other extracurricular activities which make you happy, then those are important factors weighing in favor of remaining at your current school. A rigorous high school education will prepare you well for college - any college - and doing what you love both in, and out of, school, is what will catch an AO’s attention. Do what makes you happy and healthy - not what you hope will get you into a ivy league university. Best of luck and congratulations on admission to your “dream high school.”
Even if you were the top students in that school, you would not have a big chance of getting into an ivy because nobody has a big chance of getting into an Ivy.
I say: Take the transfer, challenge yourself, enjoy the traditions…there will be a good college for you!
Go to HS for HS and not for where it might get you into college. Going to an Ivy is a dream for many people but with the acceptance rates being so low Dream is the key word. Go to the Catholic school and take advantage of al it has to offer!! College will work itself out and you will go to a great college that you will thrive at whether it be an Ivy or another great school. I agree with @gardenstategal ND and Georgetown are both great schools that take a good amount of kids from Catholic schools. Good Luck!!
@zoebrittany Thanks so much! I truly appreciate the help.
@Ibf Maybe your right, thanks for the help. You have no idea about how grateful I am for this advice.
@ninakatarina True, maybe that really will make me stand out more. As a matter of fact, I think you may be 100% correct. Thank you for your wise words.
The best thing you can do for your future self who will be applying to these colleges is to keep a journal where you write all these feelings and experiences down. It will save you so much time when you’re developing your personal essay.
Attending an academically challenging and competitive Catholic high school and your dream school sounds pretty perfect. Yale and Harvard are nice schools, but so are Carlton, Colby, Georgetown and other Jesuit…You will have a world of options. Enjoy!
If you don’t get into Harvard or Yale, you could probably still get into the top universities in Canada (Toronto & McGill) or Scotland (Universities of Edinburgh & St.Andrews).