My class of 2017 has 758 students. Currently I am #3. The problem is I feel a little bit burn out and possibly can’t keep up with this ranking game due to the amount of work IB requires me to do. I wonder will the top 30 colleges look at my numerical ranking or will they check to see if I am in the top 1%, 2%, 5%, etc… ?
Intuitively, it would make sense that a college cannot compare raw numerical ranking for students across various schools, so that percentage would be more important. Also keep in mind that a growing number of high schools no longer rank, so at best a college would only know in what decile they fall.
Having said that, if there are numerous applicants from the same HS, I would assume the college would rank the students numerically if it so chooses.
as long as you’re in the top 10%, you’re fine for Top 30 universities/LACs.
College admissions will “re rank” you and your classmates according to their own criteria anyway.
Most schools don’t submit rank anymore. They may have quartiles on their School Profile-but that only usually provides a rough estimate. By the way, the elite schools are not necessarily that keen on getting valedictorians over anyone else. Sometimes being a valedictorian means you never stretched or challenged yourself. That isn’t to say that you didn’t take the toughest classes but you probably were very careful and calculated. And guess what the most competitive schools are looking for-students willing to take risks and stretch-even if it means they end up with a A- (oh no…horror of horrors) in order to have significant achievements outside of class.