How I Went to Harvard for Free

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So You Come From A "Not-So-Great" High School?

You hear a lot about families moving homes so that their kids can attend a better school (oftentimes, high school). The reasoning is likely that parents feel that a better school will have better teachers and facilities, more students being accepted to “good” colleges from there, etc.

While this may be true, it may not necessarily mean that it will be easier for the student to get accepted to a good college from a “good” high school than from a “not-so-great” one.

Good colleges don’t accept based solely on stats.

One thing that most people acknowledge is that top colleges don’t accept students based solely on their academic stats. There’s a whole lot that goes into what they consider, including grades, extracurriculars, passion and drive, their backgrounds, etc.

The best high schools in the country do not send 100% of their graduates to the Ivy League. While they may send a student or two or even a few per year to a college like Harvard, what about the rest of the graduating high school class?

A hypothetical:

Let’s say a top-tier high school sent 2 students to Harvard out of a class of 500. What about the other 298 students? They may have gotten in somewhere else, but likely not all into an Ivy League (assuming the top students at the school probably applied to most if not all of the Ivies). What about a really good candidate for admission, but one that might have a slightly imperfect GPA (let’s call him/her student #10). They were rejected from Harvard, but let’s say they really wanted to go. The high school was really competitive and it was probably hard to “stand out” among his/her peers, especially since the “difference” between Student #1 and #10 was miniscule.

What if he/she had instead attended a school that rarely (if ever) sends a student to the Ivy League? Student #10 could have easily been Student #1 at that not-so-great school. Since the school wasn’t competitive, he/she was probably heads and shoulders above the rest of the student body in terms of academics, extracurriculars, passion and drive, etc.

So here’s the question:

So the question is: Would this hypothetical student have a better chance of getting into a good college like Harvard if she was by far the best at a not-so-great school, or a good-but-not-best student at a really good high school? There is no easy or definite answer to this, and it likely comes down to a case-by-case basis.

Of course, there are many things that go into determining how good a high school is

Maybe a student learns more material at a good high school. Maybe more APs/extracurriculars/etc. are offered at a better high school. Maybe the student body and/or friends a student makes at a better high school are “better.” Those types of things may or may not be true (and might depend on a case-by-case basis), but can factor into parents’ decisions about where to send their children (if they are fortunate enough to be able to move or send their children to a private school, if they so desire).

You don’t have to go to a great high school to go to a great college.

The bottom line is this: you do not have to be go to a great high school to go to a great college. Students from all over the world (many from lousy high schools) get accepted to the best universities in the world. Would they have had an easier time getting accepted had they gone to a great high school? Maybe…maybe not. But just because a student goes to a not-so-great high school does not eliminate their chances of going to one of the best colleges in the world.

Putting Your Best Self Forward

When you are among 40,000+ fellow applicants for less than 2000 available spots, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. Obviously, to maximize your chances of admission to the college of your dreams, you want to put your best self forward. …But what does that actually mean?

In preparation for applying to college, it might be a great idea to think of your strengths and your unique qualities…and try to accentuate them through your actions (i.e. what you actually do, extracurriculars, etc.).

Are you passionate about and good at music? Well, how does your application show that? Did you participate in music festivals and competitions? Did you “show” through your actions that you are passionate in the field? Did you “show” in your application that you are passionate in the field?

Through everything from choosing classes and extracurriculars to brainstorming application essay topics, we can help walk you through the entire process. All of our consultants have applied to and have been accepted to Ivy League schools. We have been there and have done that. Let us help guide you to do the same.

A Guide Through the Admissions Process

Applying to colleges and universities can seem like a daunting challenge. From SATs to letters of recommendation…deadlines to extracurriculars…where do you start?

At Firsthand Ivy, we connect you with guides that have been there and who have done that. All of our consultants have personally been through the application process, and have personally been accepted to the best schools in the world. Period.

From picking the right classes to designing a plan to put your best self forward through your applications, we can be your guide to making the process as stress-free and successful as possible.

Let’s make those college dreams come true.