Is top 33rd percentile class rank bad? [MS resident, 3.73 GPA, need FA/scholarships, CS and business]

Applying to College
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My GPA is 3.91 W, and we don’t do UW. I have top ECs in the nation (e.g., Boys Nation, Eagle Scout, Patent + Research Papers in competitive journals, and more) and great Essays, but I feel a bit down because of my GPA + Class rank.

Context: My school is a decent feeder school that offers around 20 APs, and I’ve taken 9. But a lot of people above me don’t have more than 3 APs. I had family issues that complicated things junior year and earned 2 Cs and a B (AP Calc, AP Physics, AP Euro, respectively). I’m trying to make every other stat go up (ACT, ECs, Essays). Senior year grades are all high As, but I can’t show them until RD schools. I already got into UT Dallas through a direct admissions offer for some reason, just for reference.

TL;DR - Will I get into one good school? Like T50.

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To answer your question - it’s all relative.

33% means you’re in the top 1/3.

To some that’s outstanding. To others, it’s not. It’s all relative.

A weighted GPA (and thus rank) is really not helpful though because every school weights differently.

So take all your core courses - and give yourself a 4 for an A, 3 for a B, 2 for a C, etc. If it’s a + or -, same score.

Then divide by # of glasses. Don’t include PE or Band, etc.

So if you have 10 As and 10 Bs, that’s a 3.5, etc.

That’s what matters.

Can you get into a top 50? Sure - if you apply.

But top 50 what - university? Specific academic program ranking - many “non top 50s” are tops in their class.

And let me ask you this - in most majors, what’s the difference between Ohio State or Rutgers vs. say UMN or NC State? Not much except two are in US News top 50 and two aren’t. And you can sub in many schools, well out of the top 50, whether a UDEL, Colorado, Iowa, Alabama….you name it.

Now - you know what drives college choice?

First and foremost - affordability.

Some schools are $100K a year - and people simply can’t afford them. Or don’t want to afford them. Others help with scholarships.

My advice - worry about being the best you - push but don’t over strain yourself. That you got Cs in AP classes tells me that you have - and you likely will need to repeat those in college.

But in the end, your rank and record are what they are - and there will be a school out there for you. There’s nothing to worry or stress about.

And if it’s not top 50, whatever that means to you, it will be substitutional.

In reality, top 50 doesn’t exist. It’s derived for magazine or other sales.

And guess what - your success in life will be from your efforts, not your school rank.

So control what you can….and talk to your teachers about taking the right classes because it sounds like you might have over reached.

Once you have an unweighted GPA and test score, come back and do a chance me.

Good luck.

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That’s what I needed to hear. Took some weight off the shoulders. I will calculate the GPA and my ACT goal is a 32-34 ACT superscore and I will come back for chance me. Thank you

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Band should be included because it is a performing art, which is considered academic enough that some colleges require it or visual art for admission, and general or liberal arts colleges typically have arts departments, courses, and majors.

Health as well as PE activity are generally not included in recalculating academic GPA for college admission.

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Alright, I got it now. It’s a 3.73 UW. and for UC’s GPA calculation, it is a 4.0 weighted and capped. Is that decent?

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You have already been accepted to one very good university. You can do well in life starting with a degree from UT Dallas.

9 APs are a lot over all four years of high school. If I interpreted your post correctly then you took this many over just the first three years of high school.

Again this is a lot to take during junior year of high school. One daughter took AP Euro and it was a very tough course (I still remember helping her with some of the extensive reading that was needed).

To me two C’s and a B suggest that you had taken on just a bit too much. Nine APs to me also seems like a bit too much. I think that universities will see that you have challenged yourself and will take the high rigor of your classes into consideration. My suggestion is that in the future you take some care to pace yourself. Life is not a race and you do not need to do everything now, or this year. Find the right pace for you and don’t worry about whether anyone else is taking tough classes at a faster or slower pace. When you get to university make sure that you are solid on the prerequisites for any particular course before you take the course.

I know lots and lots of people who got a bachelor’s at a school ranked about the same as UT Dallas and who have since done very well in life. I have worked with many of them. I also know someone who if I understand the rankings properly got a bachelor’s degree at a school that is ranked just very slightly lower than UT Dallas, and then got some very good relevant work experience, and then got their doctorate at a very good and highly ranked program.

You are already in at one very good university. Do the best that you can this year, see how it works out and see where you end up next year.

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Thank you for those encouraging words!!

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You can compare that to the GPA ranges shown at Freshman admission by discipline | University of California

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I missed UTD - good for you. Fine school and a top school in a few majors.

What is your academic interest?

Are you a Texas resident?

What is your budget?

This is why you need a chance me.

But you’re fine - but you likely will need to repeat classes in college - you don’t want to move on in math without a solid foundation but they’ll potentially give you a placement test.

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Academic Interests: CS + Business (Huge ambition to make my own company or move up the corporate ladder to CEO at a Fortune 500. Boys State+Nation helped me open this interest in leadership.)

Resident: Mississippi. I can go to Ole Miss for free (it’s actually my hometown), but their CS isn’t good. I did research here, so I know it a lot.

Budget: Our income is less than 100k, so I can receive financial aid to attend school for way less, potentially even for free.

Top Schools: Northwestern (ED), GAtech (EA), UCSD, UCI, UMD (EA), UF (EA), UIUC (EA), UCD, and USC (EA). More Public Ivies, such as UMich (EA), UVA (EA), UWisconsin (EA), some Ivies, and safeties, were only Ole Miss and UTD. Targets: UMass (EA), Purdue-ish?(EA). I’m applying to EA a lot because of the admission rates boost.

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Then in this case, especially you matter, moreso than the school. You can go anywhere and be CEO….but of course, very few do.

You may receive aid, you may not. It depends where you apply.

The question becomes - what can you afford?? You need a #. And I’ll disagree it’s not good (Ole Miss, although I’d say Ms. State is more reputed for STEM). I hear the same about UTK and yet I helped a student who had two fantastic internships (one in Nashville, one in KC with a dream type company) and now is in Seattle with a dream type company post graduation. He’s now doing a Masters.

My kid turned down Purdue MechE for Bama (unreputed). Interned twice (once in your state) and had 19 interviews and 5 offers by Xmas. If you work hard, you can be successful from anywhere - but it’s a lot of grind and rejection, no different than top schools by the way, especially in CS. My daughter (non-STEM) went to a regional school - and had no issue - internship with our state and in DC and now working (just graduated).

There’s never an assurance - but it’s the kid more than the school that matters.

In the end, we don’t know your test - and while you think you can get lots of aid (maybe you can), it’s the most competitive schools that assure to meet aid and you’re less likely. And many are need aware - meaning if you need too much, they can turn you down - so nothing to do with your academics.

My nephew is a poli sci grad at Arizona and works in CS in NYC (self studied a lot and passed some tests). There’s no - Ole Miss is bad, etc.

So - find out a # from your folks and consider your in-state options. If that’s all you can afford, that may be your only choice.

Once you have a test, we can see how that and your budget fit together.

What you’ve heard sounds nice and there’s some truth to it, but it’s not the entire truth.

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So you’ll have to have your family run the Net Price Calculator. I put NU below.

Are you at a private school? You can ask your odds because the 50% at a private might do better than 10% at public.. If at a public school, I can’t imagine with your stats getting into NU.

You’re not going to get any aid at the UCs because you are not a CA residents. Colleges are there for their in-state students, not you. The taxpayers support them. The different is for those with less perceived pedigree (much of the SEC like Ole Miss and Ms State), they are trying to raise their profile so they buy smart kids in - meaning lots come from out of state because if they have good grades and a good test score, they buy them in. The UCs and other top publics have no need to do this.

So you can’t afford the UCs - so remove them. UMD will be mid-50s - so again you can’t afford. UF into the 40s. UIUC into the 60s - see what I’m getting at. USC is like Northwestern and is private.

So can you afford UTD? It’s a great school. But can you afford it.

UMASS will be in the 40s with merit as will Purdue. I’m not sure you can claim targets on either - you don’t have an ACT yet (is that correct) but I suspect both are reaches.

Once you have a test, schools like Bama and UAH might come into play. The reason I say a test is - merit is based upon it - so you could go to Bama for as low as $20K all in (tuition, room, board) - but you need a 32.

There might be others competitively priced too - like U Kansas, etc.

If you’re interested in smaller schools, there’s many LACs that meet need. Many have CS. Some have business. A Richmond, as an example or Denison or Dickinson. But will they meet your budget? They determine your need. You don’t get to.

Good luck.

Welcome | Net Price Calculator

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I’ll research more tomorrow. My ACT rn is 29 (July), but I got a tutor and he helped me probably get a 33(Sept). I still have one more to get 34+ on October. Also, the reason why NU is at my fav is bc one of my good friend is there rn and she has basically the same stats as me. Only that my ECs are better.

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Did she have Cs ? I can’t imagine you get into NU but you never know. MS helps. Are you in private school?

Comparing to another isn’t, in reality, the best way to see things. One doesn’t truly know why another gets in and at many schools, major matters

But you have to pay for NU - so have your folks run that net price calculator I sent.

It’s $100K a year.

No doubt you’ll qualify for aid - but can you afford what it costs after aid? That will be the question

And schools are different - you should visit some campuses. Not sure where you live in the state, but visit MSU, Ole Miss, South Alabama, Rhodes, Bama, Milsaps.

What I’m getting at is - visits schools of different sizes and environments - to see - mine started off loving WUSTL but then ended up loving Alabama - two polar opposites environmentally and size wise.

You want to find what’s right for you - including budget. NU, for example, doesn’t have an undergrad business major although they have some programs (a minor I believe). So you can’t major in business there.

btw - unless you know you can afford or your parents are willing to pay what NU or any school will cost, you don’t ED as it’s binding. Hence, the need to fill out the net price calculator. Make sure your folks do it as they know the figures.

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The 33rd percentile, as in the topic title, would mean that a student places in the bottom third of the class. The OP may wish to clarify.

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So one thing to consider is most public universities have little or no need-based aid for out of state students.

Private colleges and universities might, however, give you a lot more need aid, or possibly need+merit.

One general issue in college admissions is that when some people think about private institutions, they only think about the most selective private institutions. However, there are many excellent private institutions that are selective, but not among the most selective.

For someone with a CS interest, there are a variety of private colleges you could consider. One way to generate leads would be to look at this list of top feeders to CS PhD programs, including the per capita version. Not that you have to want to get a PhD, but if a college does a good job supporting students who want CS PhDs, that is indicative of a good CS department:

With a CS interest, I think you might want to check out colleges like Olin, Rose-Hulman, RPI, and WPI. Try running their Net Price Calculators and see what they say.

I think DePauw, Trinity University (Texas), and St Olaf could be interesting options as well. And more, I am just picking out some ones I think might be particularly suitable for you to consider.

All these schools are selective in their own ways, but I think one or more of them might well go for your sort of profile. And applying to a mix of colleges like that could give you alternatives to consider that would actually be competitive on cost with your in-state options.

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She actually did. She had one C as well as more B’s. I forgot to mention that I had a major death in the family and it was because of that I got the C’s. I do go to a private school. also my rank is actually not 33rd percentile but top 33%. Whoops.

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Yep, totally forgot percentile. It’s top 33%. Thanks.

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Your private school counselor will be a much better guide for chancing you on your school list as they have context that we don’t.

I agree with the other posts who recommend removing the out of state publics from your list because of cost and substituting some of the private schools already mentioned. (And for others reading, U Mass and Purdue should be considered reaches for all out of state CS students as the major has become very very competitive).

Be sure that your guidance counselor mentions the death in the family in their letter of recommendation.

Good luck and congrats on already having an acceptance! UTD for CS is a great back up!

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Thanks!