Does anyone know if there’s a formula A&M uses to assign class rank to applicants from high schools that don’t rank? My daughter qualifies for academic admission with her SAT score, but other than the fact that she’s not in the top 10%, I have no idea what her rank is. Does A&M go by data from the last year her school ranked, or is it by GPA, test scores, or something else?
Are you OOS?
No, in-state.
My understanding is they use prior year’s (and current year’s) information on the high school.
Your transcript has an information sheet from your school sent with it. It is a class profile - stating lots of information regarding your particular year group & school offerings. Ask your school to see it.
They only rank you by quarter ( 1st, 2nd, 3rd,4th) - so as long as your student gets 1st quarter, it satisfies the academic admit rank. FWIW, all homeschoolers traditionally get 1st quarter. They are usually pretty generous with assigning ranks. It will be posted once your student applies & the file is reviewed so you will know the assigned rank.
The school profile basically just says that it’s a highly ranked school, what the multipliers are, how many kids take AP/SAT/ACT and average scores, and how many merit scholars there have been in the last couple of years. It doesn’t even bring up the threshold for the top 10%, although I guess A&M would know that already since so many kids apply there.
I think you need a 104+ to be top 10%. Kiddo has 96.
You don’t have to be top 10, just top quarter.
Do you know what the school average is? If top 10% is around 104, top quarter is probably in the A range right? So a 96 should be pretty safe, depending on what the school average is.
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No idea what the school average is… I did read a news story from a few years ago saying that there could be third quartile kids with an A average, so I imagine it’s pretty high. Serenity now!
There is nothing you can do on this one - however- I would be sure to apply to other schools or at least have one lined up ready to go. Do NOT use this as a safety school, be prepared. They usually start evaluating apps about 4-5 weeks after the initial application date ( it is July 1st this year). If you’re looking to save money & this is her #1, fill out the apps for other schools and hold them until you get the confirmation of class rank or alternatively apply before the deadline for the other schools if you don’t get a timely answer or it is 2nd quarter. Going to a competitive school is NOT a debatable point for lower ranking, she would just compete for a spot through holistic review.
Good thinking on the other apps, thank you. I’m guessing they won’t assign a rank until the application is completely submitted? In which case, it won’t be submitted until after September 1 since the school transcript won’t be sent until then, and likely LORs. Or maybe they’ll start calculating rank once the ApplyTexas has been turned in. Ugh, this is confusing.
Sorry don’t know the answer to that - surprised that your school is not submitting transcripts sooner - you may want to see if there is a method to request them earlier. Schools are usually open a few weeks prior to when the students arrive. I’d ask, the worst you can get is a no… I hear you on the confusing part… but you will survive it & have more knowledge about college than you’d ever imagine! Hang in there!
I asked, and they did say no. They also made it clear at the junior parent night that this was their procedure. Annoying, but nothing I can do about it. :\ It’s also frustrating to me that such a good high school has counselors who haven’t done a thing so far (seriously, they didn’t even send an email about the PSAT). Sigh.
@MotherLode There is a process to upload a copy of your transcript through the AIS portal once your application has been submitted. What you can do is request a sealed copy of her current transcript from her school and if they balk tell them it is for applying for a summer camp, summer classes or something. Many camps will require an official transcript in a sealed envelope for the camper to submit themselves. I had to do this for my son to attend an A&M summer camp. Once you have the transcript you can scan it and upload it yourself which will finish her application. September is way too long to wait to finish her application especially now they have changed application date to July 1st. My son also graduated from a highly competitive, private high school and I know he was way ahead of his peers. He got accepted a month plus ahead of all the others and got a very good housing date because of that. He was able to pick and choose where he wanted to live. Instructions for uploading transcript: http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/apply
@MotherLode One other option that I forgot to mention is that depending on where you live there may be a satellite office for Texas A&M nearby. My son’s school is in the Houston area and they hand delivered all the paperwork directly to that office to speed things up. It sounds like your daughter’s school may not be willing to do that but if you get a sealed official transcript you can drive it there yourself opposed to the uploading process online.
@MotherLode Is this a private school? It’s unbelievable that “this is their procedure”. They are negatively affecting their students by waiting that long. I agree with @pbleigh, try the summer camp transcript thing.
Hmm, okay. That’s sort of concerning. Here’s what the counseling office’s notice on Naviance says:
“There is no need for you to request a high school transcript until after school starts. We guarantee to have accurate transcripts with updated GPAs by September 1; from that point forward, we will gladly transmit your transcript to the colleges you are applying to.”
They also stressed on Junior night that to get into A&M and UT, turning in your app by October 1 should be fine. So this isn’t the case?
Coming into this discussion late. My daughter is in the same boat. She may be an automatic admit (SAT of 1360 & school does not rank). School has had “technical” problems with transcripts and official ones probably not available until this Friday or next Monday. Have made numerous phone calls! Will try these suggestions.
That’s so frustrating! For what it’s worth, A&M did rank my daughter in the top 25%. I think that was a nice, generous rank! I hope your daughter gets the same. 
Once they had your daughter’s information, how long do u think it was before they figured out her rank?