<p>So I have been looking at the 2014 ED thread and the only thing that seemed to stick out to me (besides the incredible stats MIT applicants have) is the number of people admitted who were ranked #1. I know I read the %'s somewhere but can't find them now. What % of the MIT freshman class is composed of valedictorians? Is class rank considered more important than other factors? Is there really any advantage to being ranked #1 (vs. #2-#10) when applying to MIT?</p>
<p>Does class rank trump SAT scores for equally qualified students?</p>
<p>I believe 50% of last year’s class were valedictorians, while the acceptance rate was around 25% for valedictorians. I think it may have to do with valedictorians having done lots of extracurriculars and challenged themselves with the hardest curriculum.</p>
<p>no, class rank doesn’t ‘trump’ other factors; students with high class rank are often excellent applicants in other respects. note that an even larger percentage of the very best students still didn’t get in. it’s tough for everyone here.</p>
<p>Chris, I have a bit of an ‘unorthodox’ question concerning rank, but I’d greatly appreciate it if you answered.</p>
<p>My application is not bad in most respects (numbers-wise) but my class rank is, I feel, below par. According to MIT statistics, most acceptees were in the top 5% of their class (94% of acceptees, in fact, as I’m sure you know) with the other 6% being either in the top 10 or top 15%. My percentages: top 10% 9th, top 15% 10th and 11th grades, around top 20-25% 12th. Could that be murder on my chances? (And by that I mean could it lower them considerably on its own?)</p>
<p>I’m sure the valedictorian rate would be similar to say the salutorian rate but slightly higher maybe 25% for vals and 20% for sals. And so on going down the ranks. Val seems so high because many schools don’t officially rank which lowers the “regular” rate. </p>
<p>In regards to why vals have a higher rate, it almost certainly a screening effect and not a selection effect (yay using knowledge from my economics class whose final I should be studying for right now ). MIT wants the best students and vals are usually the “best” students at a high school so obviously they have a better “chance.”</p>
<p>@ Jimmy797
How do you have high number but not a high rank? eg if your rank is bad but numbers are good, what kind of grades do other people in your grade have?</p>
<p>It’s just this year that I sort of fell a few spots - social sciences got me down, but my sciences and english grades (which are the ones I care about and want to take in MIT) are still high up there. If you remove the other stuff my rank would be way higher. </p>
<p>Also, by numbers, I was talking about other stuff like SAT and other things reported in numbers.</p>
). MIT wants the best students and vals are usually the “best” students at a high school so obviously they have a better “chance.”</p>