My school doesnt rank, but they report 15 kids with the highest GPAs in the graduating class (they dont rank them either except valedictorian/salutatorian). Im pretty sure im up there, but if im not, how much will this hurt me?
School dependent but if your high school does not rank, it will not be used.
Even if you are not top ranked, it does not mean a school will not take you.
My son’s school lists the top 25 (similar to what you note the top 15). Someone who isn’t part of it (based on her not being included in the top 25 breakfast) goes to Princeton. Suburban public high school .
You’ll rarely know why you get into or don’t get into a college.
It’s why you have a balanced list of schools to apply to or a safety only.
If you want to know how a college perceives rank, look at the colleges common data set section C7 and 10. But again if your school doesn’t rank, don’t sweat it.
Good luck.
1 Like
so it doesn’t matter whether im in the top 15 or not? its stressful because if im not in there (even though I know im somewhere in the top of the class) I can’t write it down. however, they announce the top 15 in mid-late October so I might not even be able to put it down for school im applying ED/EA to
You can control what you can control - don’t worry about what you can’t.
I don’t even know what’s on your list but there’s colleges that accept 100% or close to it of applicants.
You absolutely shouldn’t worry. You are far from the only kid with no rank - and don’t make one up. If you don’t have one, leave it alone. The counselor may note something on their report to the college.
You absolutely should build a proper list - that ensures you’ll have a school where you can be accepted, afford, and would have a wonderful experience - and that list of schools is very long.
I know nothing about you but I assure you it is.
Relax - you’re fine - and good luck.
2 Likes
Depends on the college. Texas public universities consider class rank very important (and will calculate an assumed rank if not provided), while many other colleges do not use it at all.
1 Like
@ucbalumnus yep, rank is definitely important for Texas schools, primarily Texas A&M and University of Texas; rank determines auto admit at both.
Yes but this student is clearly not in Texas as Texas high schools legally must publish a rank (top 10%) for these purposes.
According to the NACAC, less than 50% of high schools still provide class rank. And the # that have discontinued it seem to be increasing each year.
While we don’t know anything about OP, she should not be panicked that she does not have a class rank.
There’s no need to put panic into a student when they cannot control the situation.
OP will not be limited by this.
Good luck to them.
2 Likes
Section C7 of each school’s common data set shows the importance a school places on class rank.
Even when a school doesn’t explicitly state a rank, colleges may be able to extrapolate out an approximate rank using decile’s, comparing applicants from the same school, or referring to historical grades from a known high school.
Rank, though, is only one piece of a big puzzle. They are also not hard cut offs, so if you think you are top 15 that means you are like around top 15…which is essentially the same thing.
I’m going to apply to mostly top 20 colleges/ivies (Columbia, Yale, Georgetown, fordham). I’m not applying to any Texas schools and I’m not a Texan (I am from NY). My extracurriculars and my test scores are really really good but it’s this rank thing that worries me a bit.
Like I said, a student from our school graduated Princeton - she wasn’t top 25.
Of course if you are 15 of 15 is different than 15 of 300.
Again, it doesn’t matter - we don’t know your entire profile and ECs are just one small part.
Why worry - you can’t control what you can’t control.
This is why you apply to a mix of schools selectivity wise. Fordham is obviously a lot easier admit - than the other three mentioned - but ensure you have back ups - and ensure you can afford them. These schools will run - by the time your’re done - $400K or close to…
Can your family afford or are they willing to afford?
Again, we don’t know anything about you - but I am suggesting that rank shouldn’t be your focus.
Your GPA, test score, ECs, LORs, and essay matter - and yes, if your counselor puts you in the 50% range and a school takes 99% from the top quarter, then yes it would matter but you then didn’t apply to the right level of schools.
You’re simply asking about rank and we don’t know rank of how many - and no one can give you a definitive answer from that. However, if you don’t have a rank at all, don’t worry - you’re far from alone…that’s my message to you.
Just make sure you have a complete and balanced list of school - and not just ones that reject valedictorians for sport (but let in non-valedictorians) and you’ll be fine. In other words, no one’s list should only be schools that admit 5-10% of kids.
Good luck.
I’ve never seen an AO for a highly selective private university suggest they have any sort of formula or requirement for school-reported rank. They more talk in terms of challenging yourself in a broad range of courses, and then getting very good grades.
1 Like
You may be overthinking this entire thing. Take a second and step back.
While some schools hold rank as “very important” there’s nothing you can do if your school provides only a limited amount of ranks. Sure, it shows that you may not have ranked top X in your class, but the institution at the same time does not know the stats of those top X. They wont turn you away just because you didn’t rank top 25, that’s why your transcript and other parts of your application are so important.
What I’ve seen is that each schools weighing system is different, they offer different weights for APs/IBs, and all other shenanigans that can mess with ranks. If your school doesn’t rank, the institutions you’ll be applying to will put a greater focus on your transcript: the courses you take, the rigor of the courses, and how you perform in them. In addition to that, the further focus on holistic review has placed greater importance on essays, ECs, and the like.
TLDR: You’ll be fine, the difference in having a rank and not having a rank won’t impact your chances of admission, and if it does it’ll be negligible.
3 Likes
Will colleges know that my school only reports the top 15 if I don’t make the cut? I’d have to report unranked either way.
There should be a school report that explains such things that your school counselor will attach to your applications.
1 Like
For what it’s worth, I knew an interviewer for Georgetown. He said 2 out of 3 valedictorians are rejected. We went to an information session at G’town and they talked about applicants with perfect SAT scores being rejected. It’s a hard admit, as are Columbia and Yale. Good luck!
1 Like
The colleges you apply to will know where you stand relative to your class based on the profile your GC submits.
But as others have pointed out, you could be #1 in your class with a 1600 SAT and still be rejected by these highly rejective schools. So don’t worry too much about your rank. Instead, present your best application and make sure you have a balanced list (including an easier admit school that you like).
9 Likes
Please put this out of your head! Many high schools don’t rank at all, and their students still get accepted to colleges. Our HS only ranks the top 10 students. Everyone else is noted in deciles. They still get accepted to college.
Your high school will be sending a class profile to the colleges…and this includes the GPA ranges for your class. That should be sufficient for adcoms to know sort of generally where you are in the class.
Specific class rank…not important anymore as so many high schools don’t rank at all!
1 Like
My students go to a HS that similarly doesn’t rank and doesn’t have valedictorian/salutatorian. I can assure the OP from past experience that:
- Many schools stopped ranking long ago, particularly extremely competitive schools. Ranking as a metric means nothing depending on the high school they are going to. The college admissions people know the high schools in their territories and evaluate applications accordingly.
- Even Texas schools such as UT Austin and TAMU that then “assign” a rank to these OOS students from schools that do not rank do not appear to care that your school doesn’t rank. They have ways of knowing the types of students that come out of certain high schools.
Julia - stop overthinking and driving yourself nuts.
Let’s say you’re not in the top 15 (and we don’t even know how many that’s out of) - if you’re 25 of 500, for example, it’s great.
But let’s say you’re not top 15 - are you going to change your mind and not apply to Columbia and Georgetown?
Of course not - if you think you belong and that’s where you want to go, and statistically you’re within reason, then you’re still going to apply.
So why overthink this.
But at the same time, they’re likely rejections for just about everyone. Columbia accepted 3.85% of students - tons of brilliant kids are being told no.
That’s why you need balance in your list - or at least two schools you 100% can afford and 100% can get into - hopefully that you’d like.
But stop overthinking something that you can’t control. The obsession is unnecessary and unhealthy.
Good luck.
6 Likes
its out of ~120 kids. I go to a small school and although they do not give exact rankings, if im not one of the top 15 kids in my class, I’ll be in the top ~15%. most ivy acceptances are within the top 10% of their class. everything else in my apps are excellent and my family can afford anything