<p>Which adcoms have time to speculate on rank? And, as Slithey says, it’s still hard to figure if someone’s grades put him in the top 5 or top 5% or just out of there. </p>
<p>You can sometimes look at the school profile and glean an impression, without a calculator in hand. If a school has too many kids bundled in the top gpa range, something’s fishy. If a kid is one of a small percentage of kids performing well, it’s more impressive. But, lots of schools that don’t rank are scrupulous about not revealing anything that would allow another to guess. Adcoms tend to know a lot about the strengths or limitations of hs in their regions, what they can expect of those kids. And, they read transcripts.</p>