Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Effort and angst have become the norm in many countries when selecting a high school attend. This is particularly true amongst students intending on going to university. Inherent is a belief that by attending a top ranked high school one will be more successful later in life. But is one better off being a top dog in a lower achieving school or being an average student in a high achieving school? Success in high school and in university will depend on both cognitive ability and, a more challenging input to measure, non-cognitive ability. In this paper, after controlling for performance in high school, we study how placement in one’s high school cohort affects decisions such as the competitiveness/position of a university program as well as performance in university. After controlling for baseline entry ability, we find that being a top dog has a positive effect on university performance and degree completion. We also find that rank in high school affects decisions regarding the types and quality of programs and universities to which a student applies and the program/university in which a student registers.