<p>Everyone talks about GPA as being vital. Does class rank mean anything?</p>
<p>Most undergrad schools don’t rank, and some only rank the valedictorians, so it’s hard to use that as a factor.</p>
<p>While most UGs may not rank, some do. They don’t say you are #121; they say you are top 10% or top quarter, etc. Even without that, there is information which gives LSs a rough idea of where you are in the class. Honors such as cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude; membership in Phi Beta Kappa or other honorary societies; Dean’s list, etc., can give a college a good idea of where you stood in your class. Then there are the letters of recommendation and the dean’s cert many LSs require. </p>
<p>After all that is said and done, the law schools also know what your gpa is and what the median gpa of all the other candidates from your college who are applying to LS is. They get that information from LSDAS.</p>
<p>LSDAS (at least a few years ago) also computed an exact rank of where you stood in relation to other students from your school who have applied to law schools - for example, 63rd percentile. </p>
<p>The question really is how much law schools rely on that - and, IMO, it varies between schools. Some may explicitly (such as Penn) account for it when alpha-ordering their candidates; others may disregard it entirely. Some might use it in conjunction with the LSAT distrubution of students from your college (which law schools also receive). </p>
<p>Just me, but, considering that most applications receive about ten minutes of time from the admissions people - and that includes transcript, personal statement, resume, recommendations, cover letter - I don’t think class rank is something they are going to nitpick over.</p>