@ChezCurie : The reason why rank is so important is that during committee rounds, the admissions officers will take a look at the applicant slate. This is organized by HS, and then by state. At the top of each docket will be the student with the highest stats. They focus on unweighted GPA and rigor of coursework. For schools that don’t rank (most of them don’t anymore), they will try to estimate your rank based on previous applicants and other sources.
There’s a reason why valedictorians and salutatorians have an easier time getting into Ivies – thats because they focus on the rank. It certainly is possible for students outside of the top 5 to get accepted to the big name schools, but they often have to have some compelling reason.