Will poor rank ruin merit chances?

[sylvan8798]

D is hoping to get offers for merit scholarships from a number of the schools on her list. We felt that she was in the stats ballpark to get some reasonable offers. However just found out her rank-in-class and it is relatively quite low. In fact, according to the school handbook and what I can figure, in previous years her Index would have resulted in a substantially higher rank, so I don't know what went wrong there.

Anyways, wondering if that factor alone will outweigh her other factors at many/most of the schools from which she was hoping to get merit? Or even result in rejections at schools where we have felt fairly comfortable acceptance was likely?

Thoughts?

[MidwestMom2Kids_]

Convince your high school to quit reporting ranks? (Sorry. I am so glad our h.s. does not rank students.)

I think that great test scores and excellent grades will yield your daughter good merit scholarships, even if there are students from her
class with higher GPAs.

[mom2collegekids]

In fact, according to the school handbook and what I can figure, in previous years her Index would have resulted in a substantially higher rank, so I don't know what went wrong there.

this can happen in later years when some students take add'l AP classes.


As for merit...there are some schools that use rank as a qualifier, but many schools do not.

As for admittance....what schools are we talking about? The top schools can strongly consider rank, but many mid-tiers or below probably don't care much about it.

[sylvan8798]

^Sorry if that wasn't clear m2ck, the ranks are only given out first semester senior year. There must be a very top-heavy class this year, as her Index doesn't place her as high as it would have were she in some previous class (according to the manual). One of the schools high on her list is University of Pittsburgh, which seems to take rank into account for admissions.

[Kelowna]

Top schools can strongly consider ranks? This is news to me. I think they look at your unweighted GPA and recalculate according to their own system.
Every school weights differently.

Our school ranks by weighted GPA and reports to colleges whatever you prefer - unweighted or weighted. I think I will advise son to ask for unweighted GPA, even though he is #1.

the ranks are only given out first semester senior year.

Same here, ranks were given this past week and they only look at the first three years. Stupid, I know, but I guess it is a common practice since some deadlines are approaching and kids need their rank and GPA.

[sally305]

I think for the purpose of merit most schools look primarily at GPA and test scores. A lot of high schools don't rank anyway.

[ucbalumnus]

Originally Posted by Kelowna

Top schools can strongly consider ranks?

You can check their common data sets, or the information on CollegeData: College Search, Financial Aid, College Application, College Scholarship, Student Loan, FAFSA Info, Common Application to see how strong a consideration class rank is compared to other criteria.

[Debbie7452]

How low are you talking? I think rank can be considered very strongly, sorry!

[lmkh70]

My son does not rank well, but we already have heard from some colleges about scholarships based on SAT scores. I called and explained his class ranking and asked if he would still get the scholarships and they said yes.

[mom2collegekids]

One of the schools high on her list is University of Pittsburgh, which seems to take rank into account for admissions


ahh....but doesn't UPitt require HIGH stats for good merit? Not sure what your D's stats are, but if you need merit to make UPitt affordable, then if she doesn't have high stats, UPitt may be moot. Aren't you OOS for UPitt so the cost would be $40k+ per year?

[sally305]

My son's best friend was offered a generous merit package from Pitt. And our high school doesn't rank. He had very good stats (34 ACT/3.8+ GPA) and a lot of ECs, FWIW.

[sylvan8798]

Originally Posted by mom2collegekids

ahh....but doesn't UPitt require HIGH stats for good merit? Not sure what your D's stats are, but if you need merit to make UPitt affordable, then if she doesn't have high stats, UPitt may be moot. Aren't you OOS for UPitt so the cost would be $40k+ per year?

One of S's friends got an OOS scholarship last year with stats similar to D's, but not sure if they have changed policies since then. Not sure where he was ranked though.

[whenhen]

Not a parent, but when I applied to colleges, I was only in the top 40% of my graduating class. I still got very substantial merit at most of the private schools which accepted me. My GPA/ class rank was below average for almost all of the schools I got into, but my test scores (30 ACT, 2040 SAT) put me in the top 25% for all of the schools that gave me merit money.

[Mamadubbs]

My DD has a low rank as well - top 40% with a 3.6 GPA. So far she has received anywhere from $2,500 to $12,000 per year. She has a 25 ACT. Doesn't seem the rank is hurting her. But I also think they are looking at the high school she is in (private catholic). We are waiting on the acceptance and award from her top choice school, so fingers crossed they too won't weigh the rank so much.

[Consolation]

She is getting merit with an ACT of 25? Clearly, it all depends on which schools a student is applying to.

I think that it's important to remember that merit money is a tool a college uses to get something it wants. Sometimes that is a kid whose high stats improve the figures it reports to USN&WR. Sometimes it is an essentially full-pay kid who not only brings more $$ to the table, but whose decision to attend improves the yield reported to USN&WR. Merit is a major tool for yield management. Giving small merit awards to full-pay kids can result in higher yield and a healthier balance sheet.