<p>how about 1/700 vs. 34/360? thats me oh well.</p>
<p>While 1/250 seems to be more impressive, it’s not as if an admissions committee is going to hold being a mere 1/50 against an applicant from a smaller school–after all, it is not a reflection on the applicant. The small pool could be a very competitive pool if it is in the right community. For example, the local high school that my children go to has about 175 students in each class–the school is very high acheiving and is ranked consistently as one of the top publics in Ohio. There is a high school about 15 minutes away, in a suburb with somewhat similar demographics but less of an emphasis on education, where there are about 550 students in each class. Believe me, the students in our high school have a lot more competition with each other than do the students at the other school. And that’s not always a good thing…</p>
<p>Shark_bite, you’re in the top 10%, which isn’t the end of the world.</p>
<p>yeah and ive got hardcore rising stats too. my frosh year plus 1st semester of soph year killed me. ben jones says ill just have to make up for it in other areas but im way to average. oh well, there is still hope. besides top 10% aint bad.</p>
<p>What if your school is so small that they don’t rank students?</p>
<p>According to A is for Admissions by a previous Dartmouth Adcom, if you’re 1/50, you get an AI rank of 73 for rank; if you’re 1/250, you get an AI of 79 for rank; if you’re ranked 1 with 300 or more students, it doesn’t matter how many people are in your class; you can be 1/200000 and have the same impact as 1/300; the book is sort of outdated; conclusion: it makes a difference how big your class is, but not much–plus, it’s not a factor you can really control and colleges understand this</p>
<p>I think it’ll depend on the context of your highschool as well. ranked 1/50 in a top private school is more impressive than 1/250 in a public school with half of the graduating class not pursuing a college career.</p>
<p>That’s so stupid. there are students in my school who are good only at some of the subjects; they study for excellent marks but they don’t increase the prestige of the school. As to me students who are excellent and have achieved something for the school deserve honour 'cos they combine the two things.</p>