Overland High School, Aurora | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

Overland High School is a school that people are capable of succeeding in if they put in the effort. The staff is capable and helpful for the most part and want to see the students succeed. It is certainly not a ghetto school and those who say it is have never been to a true inner-city school. It is what you make of it.

I graduated in 2010 after taking 11 AP classes, competing on the girls’ swim team, and managing the boys’ swim team, while also competing in horse back riding separate from school and a job during the breaks. I graduated with a 3.1 GPA unweighted (4.3 weighted), had a 29 ACT, and was accepted to all three state universities/colleges I applied to. I was granted 28 AP credits towards college and so entered college as a sophomore. I graduated from college on time with a biology degree focusing on pre-veterinary medicine with a 3.3 GPA. I averaged 17 credit hours per semester, worked an on campus food services job for three years, was an RA for two years, and participated and lead the pre-veterinary club for four years. I have been waitlisted the last two application cycles for vet school and am currently reapplying. In the meantime, I have been hired by my undergraduate institution to work as a resident director in the residence halls, a job that includes full benefits, housing, food, and a salary.

I was able to accomplish all of this because of the confidence, time management skills, professionalism, work ethic, people skills, and stress management skills that I learned while attending Overland High School. It isn’t perfect. But if a student really wants to succeed, the resources and support are there. Anyone who says it is impossible to succeed is someone who did not take advantage of the resources and support available.

As a senior of Overland, I find the school to be a great disappointment; poor use of funds, hardly any text books with poor and out of date computers, and with at least half of its students are smokers and/or druggies. Many drugs are sold and used directly off campus and on a few occasions were offered “brownies” at lunch and was asked if I wanted to buy from a student in my advanced Algebra 2 class in my junior year.

“Success for every student” is a joke! If you’re failing they just transfer you to an alternative school or allow you to “succeed” with D’s. This school does not prepare you for college at all. I would strongly recommend sending your children to CCHS, GHS, or CTHS. Fights are regular and the staff is disrespectful.