<p>My high school does not rank students. </p>
<p>They tell us who the top 2 are at the END of senior year, but they don't send the rankings to colleges.</p>
<p>Will this hurt me?</p>
<p>I've heard from a few different sources that it puts me at a disadvantage to kids whose schools rank.</p>
<p>the counselors should at least know where you are, relatively, in relation to the rest of your class (top 10%, top quarter, top half, etc.). they will let the college know that they don’t rank, but your projected decile is ____.</p>
<p>I’ve recently come to learn that colleges sort of “force” high schools to rank, even if the HS claims it does not. The ranking may not be as precise as actual ranking – the college may nor know if you were #9 versus #11 – but they will ask enough questions so as to get pretty darn close to what your actual rank would be had your school actually ranked. I got this info from a very reliable source. Apparently, it’s become an issue as more and more high schools – particularly top ranked high schools – are getting rid of ranking because of too many controversies with crazed parents. </p>
<p>Bottom line: lack of ranking from your school will not hurt your college chances.</p>
<p>IMH yet cynical O, depending on the hs, it can help. I’m familiar with the stats for an excellent local prep school that doesn’t rank, but does release a list of students in some sort of honors society at the very end of the year with entrance by percentile cut-off (top 20%?). Looking at who went to what college, it is clear that many, many students who could not have been in the top 10%, or even the top 20%, are going to top colleges, including Ivies – colleges that claim that virtually everyone they accept is in the top 10%. I’m assuming that when high schools refuse to rank, colleges that accept their students don’t have to acknowledge admitting students below the top 10%. (And while hooks may account for a small number of these students, it doesn’t appear to be a possible explanation for most. It’s just that, as with many tough high schools, it’s possible to be an outstanding student at this hs without being in the top 10%.)</p>
<p>Most colleges figure out a rank using the school profile and historical data when high schools don’t rank.</p>
<p>Thank you guys so much for the responses! What if the college doesn’t have a lot of history with a certain high school. For example, my high school sends oodles of kids to the top LACs but not many (if any) to HYP. Will this have any effect?</p>
<p>I don’t think it will hurt you. I went to a pretty competitive small private school (about 80-90 students per class) that doesn’t rank, and even though I was most likely nowhere near the top 10% of my class (and definitely not one of the top 4 students, because the 4 who were found out right after gradutaion), I got accepted to all of my schools, only one of which was a safety. As long as you do reasonably well on your college essays and get decent to great recommendations, there’s no need to worry about your lack of school rank. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, I don’t know how to answer your last question, bethany55, given that I applied to no Ivies, yet they are pretty familiar with my high school. So I don’t know how they would look at a high school they previously had no relationship with.</p>
<p>There is no one answer.</p>
<p>The schools that take the time to study the applications will pass over that datum with a simple thought - oh, high school didn’t rank - and will move on to the rest of your application.</p>
<p>Your question would be an excellent one for your GC to ask of your favorite schools on your behalf . . or you might need to strike up a conversation with an AdComm about that issue. Both of those are good outcomes: your desire to attend that school is brought to that school’s attention in an honest way.</p>
<p>Don’t let anyone tell you that your chances are hurt for schools on your list; AdComm know that you are much more than your class rank!!</p>
<p>Kei</p>
<p>P.S. Besides, most of what people “know” about how an individual school does its applications is jive.</p>
<p>my school didn’t rank. i tink i was fine</p>
<p>If you are amongst the top 5 in your school, it could hurt, otherwise it
helps considerably. My HS does not rank. Usually the GC at our school
marks top 5 for the #1-5. It can be irritating if you are the top but then
your stats will be evident.</p>
<p>My friends school didn’t rank and she got into UNC OOS. So i guess it depends. They don’t even do GPA’s at her school either. You need a B average to stay in the school though.</p>
<p>I’ve never seen a HS that sends lots of kids to the top LACs that didn’t also send a lot of applications to HYP. Even if they are not getting in, they have applicant data.</p>
<p>When adcom don’t have info on a particular school, they use the school profile and call counselors.</p>
<p>Yeah, what they do is use the school profile and counselor report to get a sense for where you fall in relation to your peers, even if they don’t have an exact rank for you. So it wont actually hurt you at all, but you still want to make sure you do well compared to your peers.</p>