Should I Remove High School from LinkedIn? Let's Cut the Fluff.

You’re staring at your LinkedIn profile, hovering over that “Education” section.

“Should I remove high school from LinkedIn?”

You’re not alone. A lot of people wonder the same thing.

Let’s break this down with no fluff, no jargon, and no recycled advice.

Here’s the short answer:

Yes. Probably.

Now here’s the longer answer. One that takes into account why you’re on LinkedIn in the first place, what your profile says about you, and how you can actually use this platform to drive real outcomes not just look pretty online.

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read)

Keep high school only if you’re early in your career, went to a name-brand school, or are using alumni connections
Remove it if it’s just filling space or creating distraction
Focus instead on your current value headline, experience, about, featured content
Treat your profile like your online storefront: clean, modern, and built to convert

First, What’s the Point of Your LinkedIn Profile?

This isn’t Facebook. It’s not a place to relive your high school glory days. It’s a professional tool.

A well-built LinkedIn profile does one thing:

It creates clarity and credibility around what you do and why someone should care.

That could mean:

Helping you get hired
Attracting clients
Building an audience
Getting speaking gigs
Landing partnerships
Or simply creating surface area for opportunities

Ask yourself:

Does listing my high school help with any of that?

If not, you’ve got your answer.

Should I Remove High School from LinkedIn?

Let’s be fair. There are a few exceptions. Three, to be exact.

1. You’re a Student or Recent Grad

If you’re early in your career and don’t have much else to show yet, fine leave it for now. Especially if:

You don’t have a college degree
You’re still building up your experience
You’re trying to network locally (e.g., you went to a known prep school with alumni in your city)

But once you’ve got something else to showcase, even a little bit, you want to shift the spotlight. High school becomes less relevant the second you start adding internships, jobs, projects, certifications, or even side hustles.

2. It’s a Big-Name High School (Think Ivy-Level Prep)

Some elite prep schools carry serious weight. Think:

Phillips Exeter
Andover
Stuyvesant
Bronx Science
Harvard-Westlake

If that name opens doors and starts conversations in your world, okay. It might stay but not at the top of the list.

Put it near the bottom. Keep the emphasis on what you’re doing now.

3. You’re Leveraging Alumni Networks

Some people use LinkedIn to connect with fellow alumni, and high school might play a role. But be honest:

Are you actually using that angle? Or are you just holding onto nostalgia?

If it’s the latter, that’s emotional clutter.

Your profile should be clean and outcome-driven. Not sentimental.

What Happens When You Keep It on There?

Let’s talk perception.

Most recruiters, clients, and collaborators are scanning your profile for signal. They want to know:

What you do
How you do it
Who you’ve done it for
Whether you’re worth their time

When they see “XYZ High School” listed under education, here’s what they don’t think:

“Wow, what a promising professional.”

Instead, they might think:

This person hasn’t updated their profile in a while
They’re early in their career (even if they’re not)
They don’t understand how to use LinkedIn strategically

Perception is everything.

Why risk signaling immaturity or irrelevance just to keep an old line item?

Strip Out What Doesn’t Serve You

Your profile is real estate. Every section should earn its keep.

Remove what’s outdated. Remove what doesn’t align. Remove what muddies the story.

And that’s the key word: story.

Your LinkedIn should tell a clear, compelling narrative about who you are right now not who you were at 17.

So What Should You Focus On Instead?

If you're asking this question, your time is better spent building a modern profile that reflects your current value.

Here’s how to do that fast:

1. Optimize Your Headline

Use this formula:

What you do + Who you help + How you do it

Example:

SaaS Consultant | Helping B2B startups scale to $10M+ | Ex-Drift

Your headline is prime real estate. Don’t waste it on generic job titles.

2. Craft a Killer ‘About’ Section

Tell a short story. Make it punchy. Three paragraphs max:

Who you are + what you do
Who you help + how
Proof of results + how to reach you

No fluff. No buzzwords.

3. Build Out the Experience Section

Show your work. Use bullet points. Be specific. Think:

Outcomes
Metrics
Projects

Each role should scream: “I know my stuff, and I get results.”

4. Add Featured Content

Drop in links, PDFs, posts, or media that back up your claims.

This is where you show, not just tell.

Example:

A viral LinkedIn post
A podcast you were on
A PDF of your portfolio
A short case study

5. Grow Through Content (Optional but Powerful)

Even one post a week can put you ahead of 99% of users.

You don’t need to go viral. You just need to be visible.

Show up, share insights, and make it clear what you stand for.

The Bottom Line

Here’s what you really need to remember:

LinkedIn is a positioning platform.

High school is rarely part of that position.

If you’re building a career, a business, or a personal brand, you need to signal strength and cut the noise.

So should you remove high school from LinkedIn?

Yes. Unless you have a strategic reason not to.

Otherwise, it’s just taking up space that could be used to build credibility.

Final Takeaway: Keep It Clean, Keep It Current

Your LinkedIn profile should serve a clear purpose: to position you as someone worth connecting with, hiring, or doing business with. High school usually doesn’t move that needle.

Unless you’re early in your career, leveraging a top-tier prep school, or actively tapping into alumni networks, it’s better to leave it out.

It doesn’t add value, and worse, it can create the wrong impression that you’re inexperienced, out of date, or not using LinkedIn intentionally.

What matters more? A sharp headline. Clear positioning. Real experience. Tangible results. Featured content that backs it all up. That’s what builds trust, sparks interest, and opens doors.

So if you're still clinging to high school as filler, it’s time to level up. Give your profile the polish it deserves. Focus on where you’re going, not where you started.