<p>Lots of schools have detailed requirements for merit scholarships. Are they usually firm on meeting all requirements? I go to a school with unweighted grading...have taken all honors and ap courses (big mistake, should have blended in some regulars)...and have a very high achieving class. My rank in a class of 700 students is not top 20 percent, with a GPA of 3.7...I have 32 ACT composite, many activites, a job and 5 seasons of a varsity sport......Any chance schools might look beyond the class rank?</p>
<p>I would say absolutely, because I have a 4.0 but a average ACT score, and all the colleges I looked into, said they didnt look at class rank or GPA nearly as much as the ACT score. And being that your ACT score is pretty high, I would say you would have a great change of getting scholarships and acceptance. good luck</p>
<p>thanks so much for responding....I know school by school will vary, but need some hope here. keep your fingers crossed</p>
<p>The answer varies by school. Your guidance counselor can help the colleges understand your performance in context.</p>
<p>BTW, does your high school even report rank? My D's school did not. It's worth checking into.</p>
<p>They do report rank...I'm just hoping colleges will see from the literature the high school sends that there is a tiny difference numerically between the top 10 and say the top 25 percents (we're graded numerically...ie. 93.78, 94.62)...and so many of the top 20 percent are taking regular classes!</p>
<p>I know how you feel. My high school didn't weight, and our top students took the easy classes. Life isn't fair. Does your school profile state that courses aren't weighted? If not, you might want to find a nice way to somehow state that in your app, or get your g.c. to do so. Do what you can, and don't worry about what you can't control.</p>