<p>(I posted this originally on the chances board and got no replies, so I'm asking for some advice from the knowlegeable people on this board.)</p>
<p>I am really worried, maybe a little paranoid, about the college admissions process. I am a junior, and I would really like to attend a top university. I think I have a very strong academic record, with a 3.94 UW, 33 ACT, 221 PSAT, and a lot of extracurriculars. (Swimming 12-20+ hours a week, cross country, tutoring inner-city kids, teaching Sunday School, peer tutoring, working with International Students, NHS, and I'm doing 5 weeks of medical research at Boston University this summer) I will have taken at least 10 AP classes by the end of Senior year, and I am also enrolling in two college courses senior year at our local college. After sophomore year, I scored a 5 on both the AP Bio and AP World History exams. My high school is extremely competitive, but it is not well-known by top universities because it is a charter school and just opened my freshman year. In just three years kids are already going to Yale, Cornell, MIT, U Chicago, Northwestern, Middlebury, Carnegie-Mellon, etc. However, my class is very small, with around 70 students. I have only gotten 2 B's ever, in AP Calc and AP Chem (Well, it will probably be 3 after this semester, AP Chem again) Here is the problem: There are AT LEAST 3-4 students with 4.0's, so I might actually out of the top 10% since we don't weight grades. Almost all of these kids haven't taken nearly as many AP's though, and have been known to drop hard classes to keep a 4.0. How will my low rank affect my chances at places like Stanford, Rice, Notre Dame, Wash-U, and Emory? It seems like a big deal to be in the top 10%, so will it kill my chances if I am, say, 8 out of 70? Thanks in advance for any advice.</p>
<p>Your "low" rank won't affect your chances unless your school has (already) become known for grade inflation. Please try to find something more significant to worry about.</p>
<p>Agreed. You do not have a "low" rank, and in a small graduating class, these percentiles are less meaningful. If you become a NMF, that will help you. Did you take the SAT or just the ACT? What about the SAT II's ?? It might help to know there #s. but really, your rank is just fine.</p>
<p>emswim, I don't think ranking below the top 10% at your high school will be viewed as a negative. Ranking has become such a contentious issue at competitive high schools across America that many have eliminated it altogether and thus colleges are used to evaluating data in other ways. What is important is that your GC adequately explains the competitive nature of your school and what being in the second decile really means. </p>
<p>In my opinion (of course its difficult to quantify) smaller LACs are more likely to view applicants holistically: they look at the whole package -- grades, scores, rank, essays, recommendation, ECs, hooks. A strength can compensate for a weakness. The larger universities that have many more applications are likely to be more numbers driven and less likely to be swayed by the compensation factor unless its a hook that fits THEIR NEEDS. They have so many excellent applicants so they can afford to make minimum statistics the entry bar. </p>
<p>You have a wonderful profile and will be appealing to many of the colleges on your list. I do hope, however, that for your own peace of mind that you add a less selective or two.</p>
<p>Don't worry, I have a list of safeties that I would want to attend. I just really want to get into at least one of my top choices. Also, our school does not rank, but I am afraid a college could find out somehow.</p>
<p>Read "A is for Admission" (note that this is not an unqualified endorsement of the book). It covers the rank issue thoroughly. If your school does not rank, or provide deciles, your GPA will be used to estimate a rank. You should be okay.</p>
<p>And certainly, the rest of your profile is superb.</p>