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<p>Depends on the school.</p>
<p>GPA is irrelevant at the University of Texas (Austin), where class rank is used.</p>
<p>Class rank is irrelevant at the University of California (Berkeley), where GPA is used.</p>
<p>Some other schools may use both, with different levels of importance relative to each other and other factors.</p>
<p>As far as which is “better” to use, both have advantages and disadvantages.</p>
<p>Class rank shows how the student compares to others – but the competitiveness of other students in the school can result in different class ranks for the same academic performance in different schools.</p>
<p>GPA theoretically compares everyone to grading standards – but varying levels of grade inflation and course rigor in different schools can make GPA not very comparable between schools.</p>