<p>How is class rank calculated (on the college admissions end) for a student from a non-ranking school? I'm a junior in a class of about 100 and have a 4.2/4.0, but I know that there are at least 3 or 4 people with higher due to taking geometry or spanish 1 in middle school (I did not attend a middle school with that option). I should have around a 4.3 at the end of this year (rank~5/100 i guess). I was just wondering how admissions officers deal with non-ranking schools like mine. The only seriously competitive school I'll be applying to is olin. With the others (such as Rose-Hulman), it'll be more for financial aid than admission.</p>
<p>FYI: My hs has significant academic diversity (i.e. final gpa's range from 1.x to 4.4-ish usually). Its distrbution, from what i gather, is probably bi-modal (1st around 2.5, second around 3.9) with a slight negative skew (probably). </p>
<p>Thanks for any insight anyone provides into the tangled web of college admissions.</p>
<p>I'm guessing admissions will look closely at your teacher recommendations and courseload to see what kind of student you are.</p>
<p>Worth nothing: Olin doesn't rank either, so they probably don't mind that your high school doesn't rank. It's about being awesome, not about being awesomer than your buddies.</p>
<p>If your school doesn't rank, colleges won't expect one from you. I went to a Cornell info session yesterday and they said only 51% of all applicants had a class rank.</p>
<p>If you think you are in the top 5%, the teachers or guidance counselor will know it and mention it. The ADCOMs would love to see a rank assigned by the school, but will take the percentile info too.</p>
<p>Your counselor will either provide a decile, quartile, or answer the question "How many other students have this GPA (or better)?" Adcoms will get the information one way or another. You school profile provides much of that information. They usually say how many 4+, how many 3.0-4.0, etc.</p>