It depends on what you consider a good school, for a first. If you consider IVY Leagues good schools… Then it’s probably a good idea to have not only really good grades, but in high classes.

Colleges like to see people try. So rather than seeing people have 4.0 in all regular classes, they would rather see a few B’s in GT, AP, IB classes.

You also have to do things that will separate you from the rest; to make you stand out. Having talents, like tennis or violin, helps, but it’s not a must.

I, for example, don’t have any specific talents, but I do everything.

I run cross country, I play in the school orchestra, I play tennis, I am in the National Honor Society, Spanish National Society, Amnesty International, etc. etc.

And I am also fluently bilingual as well as learning my 3rd language, going into Spanish 5 AP next year.

But I am not applying to IVY League schools. There are plenty of schools that are very good that are not Ivy League.

(I am going more for Liberal Arts schools, like Haverford, Swarthmore, etc.)

It begins with what you define good schools, but what’s common in every school is that they want you to try.

They like seeing you improve (though 4.0’s are probably awsome, if you had a really bad start, you could raise your grades throughout the high school years and they like that), and seeing that you try something and stick with it (like running cross country all 4 years of high school; even if you suck at running).

I don’t know for sure, since I’m still in the college application stage, but I am hoping that I’ll get into most of the schools I apply to.

What’s important is that you choose the right schools for you, not just the “high profile” schools.

Good luck!