<p>If your school ranks, top 10% is critical. The few percent that are not are mostly recruited Impact athletes, so you could be OK if you are one.</p>
<p>This metric is important in the US News ranking, so colleges hold pretty firm. I’ve never seen a highly competitive school like the one Alexandre describes that has ranked in the past decade. They are well aware that it’s a disservice to their students.</p>
<p>As for Penn, I believe the percent in the top 10% is 98%.</p>
<p>I think a lot of kids are confused in thinking they just missed getting in if they are top 11%. If you look closely, you’ll see that most unhooked students accepted at ivies were top 2, not 2%, in their respective classes.</p>