Brookins said that while it's probably easier to get in to Harvard from Boston Latin School than from most high schools, not many others offer the same curriculum.

"Some people seem to suggest that because Andover is Andover students will just get in because of the name," says C. Joseph McCannon '99, who graduated from Phillips Andover Academy. "The name Andover clearly carries some weight in the admissions office but the students who do come from Andover go through very rigorous preparation and, I think, are all very highly qualified."

"I don't necessarily think admissions gives us special benefits except that the name of the school turns their head a bit in the beginning," Garrison says of Exeter.

Ali J. Satvat '99, who graduated from Roxbury Latin, likens the relationship between his school and Harvard to the situation of graduates from the College applying to Harvard Law School.

"There's familiarity in terms of knowing how the school is run," says Satvat.

This familiarity also affects the way students at these high schools think about attending Harvard. Some try to resist the overwhelming tradition of matriculating at Harvard.

"Until my senior year I didn't really want to go to Harvard because it's such a traditional place to go," says Guinivere E. Mathews '98, who graduated from Exeter. "It seemed almost like a cliche to go from Exeter to Harvard and I thought I would want to do something different."

Brookins, who was valedictorian of her class at Boston Latin, said she used to think Harvard was a "cop-out."

"After I got past my rebellious stage of, like, I'm going to go to the University of Hawaii, [the connection] was a positive thing," said Brookins.

"It made me want to come here," she adds.