Our school has a very weird ranking system. only top 10% are able to report their rank, everyone else can not. Our class is only 50 people, and is extremely competitive. If i do not report my rank, colleges will know I was not top 10%. Will this hurt my chances of admission? I still have a 3.98 UW and a 4.5 W, with high SATs and really good extracurriculars, and am taking the hardest possible classes at my school.
The short answer is yes, you can still get in to an Ivy League school while being outside the top 10% of your class.
3 Likes
Though it is not a typical high school, around 20% of last year’s class at my kid’s school went to Ivy League schools (that’s not including those who may have gotten in but chose to go elsewhere). So, yes it is possible, and I know of somewhere it happens. But whether you can will depend on your specifics. Ask your counselors if this is something that happens at your school.
The only way to know is to apply! Absolutely give it a shot. But as I tell everyone, it is important to come up with a balanced application list with reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable and that you would be excited to attend.
2 Likes
My slight tweak to this is that the most important piece is to find a safety school or two (admissions and affordability) that you would be truly happy to go to. Once you have that, the rest of the list can have a lot more flexibility in its composition.
6 Likes
As a further tweak I’m a fan of finding a couple of affordable safety/match schools that offer rolling or non-binding EA admissions. Having an acceptance in hand by December takes a lot of pressure off the rest of the process.
4 Likes
If you believe that Ivy League school admissions officers use a holistic admissions process, then being ranked outside of the top 10% of your class will not prevent your application to Ivy League schools from being read & given consideration for admission.
1 Like
Do you not believe that claim? The “ if you believe” at the start of your statement makes it sound as if you may not.
1 Like
None of us works in admissions departments. Have you spoken to your guidance counselor who will have direct experience with admissions outcomes of people coming from your HS? That would be my first step.
I would strongly suggest expanding your horizons past the Ivy League (which I would tell any applicant).
2 Likes
Does your high school have historical records on whether unhooked students outside the top 10% get admitted to your desired colleges? Ask your counselor.
3 Likes
As others are saying, whether someone in your position at your HS would typically be competitive for admissions at these colleges is a question for your counselor. Certainly such high schools exist. We couldn’t know for sure if yours is one of them.
By the way, I will note you discussed academic qualifications and activities, but did not discuss personal character traits. You don’t have to, of course, but that is the third leg of the holistic review stool, and it typically plays a large role in determining which applicants who are competitive in terms of academics and activities actually get offers from the most selective holistic review US colleges.
Can it happen? Yes
Will it hurt your chances? Possibly.
Remember, if you were the valedictorian of your class with a 1570 SAT, the odds would still be against you.
1 Like
Probably not.
Only a small minority of students attending Ivy League colleges report their HS rank, which partially relates to a large portion attending competitive/selective HSs like you mention. Some example numbers from most recent CDS are below.
- Cornell – 18% submitted rank
- Penn – 22% submitted rank
- Columbia – 26% submitted rank
- Harvard – 29% submitted rank
The admin readers can likely get a feel for where you rank in the class from the school profile and GC comments/checkbox, but I wouldn’t assume a hard threshold, like must be in top 10%. This is particularly true if you attend a competitive/selective HS, where there are lots of stellar students who are not in top 10%. Considering you have a 3.98 UW, I doubt that it would have much influence
1 Like
With such a small class, I would say no, being outside the top 10% is unlikely to matter. The difference between 5th and 6th is likely negligible, for example. What will matter more, in a small class of highly capable applicants, is how each of you differentiates yourself.
1 Like
I think that rule is actually there to help you. Like you don’t have to report a lower rank. They’ll never know you’re not in the top 10% if you don’t have to report your rank at all. KWIM? Does your school report say only top 10% report rank? If not, how will a school know? You just say your school doesn’t rank?
our class is comprised mainly of hooked students (either low income or first gen or both) and it doesn’t really help that i am neither.. however, I recently found out 12/43 seniors in our class got into t30s
At this point you are where you are. I’d recommend that you stop obsessing about rank, minimal GPA fluctuations, etc. Instead focus on working with your guidance counselor to create a well balanced application list with reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable and that you would be excited to attend.
You can have a great experience and get where you want to go in life from many many wonderful colleges.
4 Likes
Every student is individual and judged as such. You will land where you land. If you want a certain school, apply and see. The worst they can say is no.
Getting in is only part of the battle. And there are many subs for top 30 - which in reality means little.
1 Like