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The thing is the kids never are exactly equal. Does an Intel project weigh more than a paying job in computer science? Does four years of two orchestras weigh more than doing one orchestra and drama? Does a 790/760 weigh more than 760/790? Does the admissions officer think an A in Latin is worth more than A in Spanish? Does being male applying to an LAC count for something extra? I can tell you that I’ve regularly seen kids get in over ones who were ranked higher. I really think if you are in the top 2% (for Ivies at our school) or the top 5% for other very selective colleges your chances are pretty good of getting into at least one of your reaches - at our school. If the difference is between #2 and #20 it may make a difference, but if it’s the difference between #21 and #29 I doubt it does. My youngest was one kid away from being in the top 5% - maybe it made a difference - who knows! (Since as far as I’m concerned the B’s he got from Latin were gifts from the teacher - I’m not sure he deserved to have as good a rank as he did!)</p>
<p>In many schools they really do ignore the lower scores. Someone goes through the files and just records the top scores on the folder, and the reader never sees the rest of the scores.</p>