<p>These posts are NOT helpful to an applicant with a class rank UNDER the 50% point. Per that, applicant is an AVERAGE student, and SUNY Stony Brook is a big reach. I guess I need to know in what way specifically your school is “ridiculous”. Do you mean it’s a special type of school that only bright students attend? If so, disregard the below comments. If not, the below comments apply.</p>
<p>Math and Science for an AVERAGE student would not be (likely) be found in the top 50 universities or Top 30 LACs. Top 10 centers around top 1% from your school. 10-20 around top 2%. 20-30 around top 3%… 30-40 Top 5%, and so on.</p>
<p>If you happen to be a high tester on the SATs, then the applicant will wonder why you don’t perform in the classroom. Bottom line average classroom grades does not match well to top 100 schools.</p>
<p>I would look in the schools USNWR has ranked 100-200 as matches, and from 75-100 as reaches.</p>
<p>You can’t realistically expect an adcom from a top 100 school, where less than 10% of their the admitted students are under the top 30% of their graduating class, to think a bottom half ranking applicant will all of a sudden and miraculously kick it into gear to compete (in the CLASSROOM) against applicants who have historically left him/her in the dust in the classroom.</p>