Does it matter what high school you went to?

[DrFreud]

They ask this on the amcas application...do they have a list of high-performing high schools? What's the deal?

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[gary yoghurt]

They ask this on the amcas application...do they have a list of high-performing high schools? What's the deal?

Short answer: no.

Long answer: I'd like to come through this computer screen and punch you.

 

[LovelyMD]

They ask this on the amcas application...do they have a list of high-performing high schools? What's the deal?

You know, I've always wondered why they ask for that info. Interestingly, quite a few of my interviewers have commented on/ asked questions about my high school (it's a well known magnet school).

 

[wutwinb]

They ask this on the amcas application...do they have a list of high-performing high schools? What's the deal?

sometimes it matters if the high school you attended is considered educationally disadvantaged. i know at least one school (VCU, i think) that specifically asks about this.

 

[nybrian]

I'm a high school drop out, barely passed the ged, and never took the sat will this affect me negatively?

 

[LizzyM]

HS used to be on the AMCAS. I've not seen it this year. Sometimes I'd recognized schools in my immediate vicinity and the names of some well known schools in some cities in which I've lived as well as the better known boarding schools. More often than not, the school name meant nothing to me.

This may matter only if you are applying right out of HS to one of those six or seven year programs.

 

[dc5484]

haha, it's funny that I found this post.

the reason I say this is b/c I just had an interview last week (at Vandy) where the first question my interviewer asked me was why I went to the specific high school I went to. Then he asked me what my SAT score was...

and then (unrelated to OP's post, but strange nonetheleses), when he saw that both my parents are engineers and I mentioned that my dad has done lots of work in the computer hard drive industry, he asked me "how do computer hard drives work?" We talked about things computer hard-drive related for a while actually...bizarre.

Anyways, saw this post and it made me laugh.

 

[coralfangs]

well, can i brag about my pre-school? i know kennedy's kids went there too

 

[drizzt3117]

I believe the question is still on there. Some states will consider you a resident for tuition purposes regardless of what you put on your AMCAS if you meet their state's residency criteria, which include going to high school in their state.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

My hs was full of underachievers and druggies

 

[Soggun]

Eh, I was inclined to say no, but it may have a small impact if it is particularly well known/difficult to get into and you are applying in the same area as the HS.... But normally, no

 

[queenbee]

in my resume, i've included my high school b/c i usually meet many alums along the way and have been interviewed for jobs by my high school alumsit's another way to possibly have a connection with the person that is interviewing you or reviewing your application.. that can't be a bad thing?

 

[tourniquet1963]

in my resume, i've included my high school b/c i usually meet many alums along the way and have been interviewed for jobs by my high school alumsit's another way to possibly have a connection with the person that is interviewing you or reviewing your application.. that can't be a bad thing?

did you go to sty? you seem awfully proud.

 

[Robizzle]

Short answer: no.

Long answer: I'd like to come through this computer screen and punch you.

 

[etf]

My hs was full of underachievers and druggies

so was mine. except it set my parents back $8000 a year.

 

[etf]

did you go to sty? you seem awfully proud.

hahaha, i know quite a few people from stuy, and yes, they are very proud of their hs. some of these kids are more proud of their high school than the top 3 undergrads they graduated from.

 

[armybound]

haha, it's funny that I found this post.

the reason I say this is b/c I just had an interview last week (at Vandy) where the first question my interviewer asked me was why I went to the specific high school I went to. Then he asked me what my SAT score was...

and then (unrelated to OP's post, but strange nonetheleses), when he saw that both my parents are engineers and I mentioned that my dad has done lots of work in the computer hard drive industry, he asked me "how do computer hard drives work?" We talked about things computer hard-drive related for a while actually...bizarre.

Anyways, saw this post and it made me laugh.

we talked about my high school at Vandy too... weird

 

[Neuronix]

I'm a high school drop out, barely passed the ged, and never took the sat will this affect me negatively?

I was a high school dropout as well. I had to get one school to modify its secondary for me because you couldn't submit the online secondary without putting in things like HS class rank (wtf?). I think in reality nobody cares and you might get bonus points for the unique story.

I dunno why HS is on there. LizzyM is almost certainly right about it. Why an MD/PhD program would ask about this baffles me to this day.

 

[fuzzywuz]

hahaha, i know quite a few people from stuy, and yes, they are very proud of their hs. some of these kids are more proud of their high school than the top 3 undergrads they graduated from.

thats pretty true, but im pretty proud of my undergrad school as well.

 

[Abilene85]

Could be a topic of discussion at a local med school interview. Like "hey, my kids are there right now - how did you like Mrs. Blah?"

 

[ChubbyChaser]

so was mine. except it set my parents back $8000 a year.

I probably have you all beat, did yall go to a highschool with an average SAT score of sub 900??? I DID I DID lol

 

[wutwinb]

I probably have you all beat, did yall go to a highschool with an average SAT score of sub 900??? I DID I DID lol

haha, my high school's average SAT score was under 900 as well. good thing i got the hell out of there...

 

[LovelyMD]

My hs was full of underachievers and druggies

That's funny, mine was filled with overachievers and druggies. Mostly overachievers though.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Sometimes it provide a little perspective into an applicant's "disadvantaged" background.

 

[Neuronix]

I probably have you all beat, did yall go to a highschool with an average SAT score of sub 900??? I DID I DID lol

The high school I left's average was 820. Only 50% of the seniors took it and this was after about 50% of the starting freshmen had left.

 

[beachblonde]

Could be a topic of discussion at a local med school interview. Like "hey, my kids are there right now - how did you like Mrs. Blah?"

A friend of mine actually spent almost his entire interview talking about his private high school. The interviewer was an alumnus as well, so they just chatted about the good ol' days the whole time.

And he was accepted three days later.

But really, no, I don't think it matters unless you went to Exeter/Andover/Choate and have the funds to build the school a new building. Then they might be interested.

 

[beachblonde]

sounds kind of like the infamous Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology...usually just known as "TJ".

That place is unreal. The top prizewinners in the Intel international science competition are always from TJ. They have a supercomputer in their basement!

(I'm not bragging...I didn't go there!)

 

[chickenlittle84]

I think it can hurt or help you depending on the circumstances...if you went to a bad high school and excelled in college, I think it really helps you, and rightfully so, in that it shows you succeeded despite the odds. On the other hand, if you went to an excellent or famous high school and floundered when you got to college (as I did), it can hurt you to some extent...like here is someone who had every advantage and still couldn't cut it...I have been asked about my high school at 2 interviews...at the first, they just wanted to understand why I went there as opposed to the local public high school, and at the second, the interviewer made suggestions about my family background based on the cost of the school.

 

[OCallag]

sounds kind of like the infamous Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology...usually just known as "TJ".

That place is unreal. The top prizewinners in the Intel international science competition are always from TJ. They have a supercomputer in their basement!

(I'm not bragging...I didn't go there!)

As soon as I saw "TJ" in that post I knew I was going to have to mention the computer, but you beat me to it! The folks at "TJ" are so "especially gifted" that they allowed the ceiling to leak out on to the supercomputer and, as of May 2007 it was no longer fixed, which was when my roommate, a TJ graduate and member of the "Oh Sht We Need to Fix the Supercomputer in the Basement!" Club, relayed the story to me.

OP, I would imagine it doesn't matter much, if at all. Going to, say, Exeter might help out just because they would know your high school was solid, but might just provide good interview fodder. But like a previous poster noted, it could be an advantage at a school if you've done well when the odds were against you (like at VCU, who asks if you went to a disadvantaged school).

 

[beachblonde]

As soon as I saw "TJ" in that post I knew I was going to have to mention the computer, but you beat me to it! The folks at "TJ" are so "especially gifted" that they allowed the ceiling to leak out on to the supercomputer and, as of May 2007 it was no longer fixed, which was when my roommate, a TJ graduate and member of the "Oh Sht We Need to Fix the Supercomputer in the Basement!" Club, relayed the story to me.

TJ is a very "gifted" place. I believe that one time their homecoming mascot was a TI-83.

And all of the guy's bathrooms have pink tile.

 

[Caesar]

Short answer: no.

Long answer: I'd like to come through this computer screen and punch you.

I needed that. Thank you.

 

[Caesar]

anyone heard of IMSA?

www.imsa.edu

I know someone who goes there.

 

[Carissa]

I know that this is an old thread, and from reading it I should be able to grasp that the answer is a very definite "NO," but I'm just bringing it up again to see if anyone has anything else to say on the subject.

 

[dienekes88]

I know that this is an old thread, and from reading it I should be able to grasp that the answer is a very definite "NO," but I'm just bringing it up again to see if anyone has anything else to say on the subject.

This is my take on the subject:

But really, no, I don't think it matters unless you went to Exeter/Andover/Choate and have the funds to build the school a new building. Then they might be interested.

Andover, Exeter, and Choate do not belong in the same sentence. One of these does not belong, and I'll tell you that it rhymes with "boat."

Mentioning them in the same breath is akin to saying Princeton is a good school. Ridiculous.

 

[Neuronix]

Given that wutwinb and I ended up at the same school, maybe it matters less for some schools.

Or maybe we're just here to balance out the super-rich, holla!

 

[TehDoc]

Short answer: no.

Long answer: I'd like to come through this computer screen and punch you.

First time i agree with a troll. Hilarious answer though.

 

[bcat85]

Short answer: no.

Long answer: I'd like to come through this computer screen and punch you.

This was, in shorter and kinder terms, pretty much exactly what I was going to say. Good work.

 

[se2131]

sounds kind of like the infamous Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology...usually just known as "TJ".

That place is unreal. The top prizewinners in the Intel international science competition are always from TJ. They have a supercomputer in their basement!

(I'm not bragging...I didn't go there!)

Stuy and TJ've got nothing on Montgomery Blair (my alma mater) in maryland. Those three switch off from year-to-year for most intel semi-finalists, but consider that there are only 100/yr in the magnet program at blair, 450/yr at TJ, and 750/yr at stuy.

Of course, that meant that I was something like the bottom 20% of the program... couldn't keep up

 

[QbaLibre]

I really hope it doesn't matter! (<--- product of NYC public schools)

... for whoever is talking about Stuy on here, do you mean Stuyvesant on chambers st in battery park city? 'cos I went there. I was pretty much an underachiever who passed with the bare minimum grades though, after getting used to being in the top 2% for 9th-10th grade at New Utrecht in bklyn.

I guess it might matter if you went to some fancy well known private school though, like Chaminade or something.

 

[travelbug73]

you went to high school outside the US.

 

[HumidBeing]

I really hope it doesn't matter! (<--- product of NYC public schools)

... for whoever is talking about Stuy on here, do you mean Stuyvesant on chambers st in battery park city? 'cos I went there. I was pretty much an underachiever who passed with the bare minimum grades though, after getting used to being in the top 2% for 9th-10th grade at New Utrecht in bklyn.

I guess it might matter if you went to some fancy well known private school though, like Chaminade or something.

I think that it probably works exactly the opposite for the schools who wish to take that into consideration. If an applicant attended a high school in a depressed area, or any school that is known for low completion rates and poor outcomes for many students, doing well enough to be able to compete for a med school seat says a great deal about the applicant's abilities to overcome obstacles, as well as showing his determination, self-motivation, and abilities to succeed.

 

[45408]

I know that this is an old thread, and from reading it I should be able to grasp that the answer is a very definite "NO," but I'm just bringing it up again to see if anyone has anything else to say on the subject.

do you really have all your ECs as an animated GIF for your avatar? srsly?

 

[fuzzywuz]

Come on! She's only 15..

 

[TehDoc]

lol

 

[Carissa]

do you really have all your ECs as an animated GIF for your avatar? srsly?

fuzzywuz, thanks for the support, but he does have a point... In my defense, I created that avatar when I first created my account here and I was trying very hard to be taken seriously (although now I don't see how that avatar would help in that regard), but I honestly haven't looked at it again until now, when I see that it is a bit, uhmmm, ridiculous...

 

[nash103]

Both my brother and I actually did drop out of HS. We both received multiple acceptances to medical school and my years prior to college were never once discussed in interviews.