<p>Everyone on CC seems to believe top 10% puts you in the running. In the dark ages when I worked at a 'lower ivy' in admissions, top 5% certainly put one in the running. Yet looking at stats for Dartmouth's class of 2012, it seems clear that being in the top few is necessary for the unhooked. 40% of the class who were ranked were top 2 in their graduating class!</p>
<p>So after much debate at a dinner last night I still don't have the answer. Opinions on what it takes today?</p>
<p>Having spent a lot of time browsing chance/result threads on CC, I'd have to say I really have no idea. I too always thought that top 10% was really all that was needed, since most colleges always provide that statistic (90% were top 10%, etc.), but looking at Northwestern's last admitted class, almost 70% were in the top 5%.</p>
<p>the word "crapshoot" comes to mind.</p>
<p>I think it depends on the school. If your school is extremely competitive, then being in the top 10% is probably still really good. If you go to a really bad, uncompetitive public school and you're in the top 10%...it probably doesnt look as impressive.</p>
<p>is there a big difference between being in the top 10% and being in the top 5%? will the colleges reject you just because of your class rank?(let's your sat,gpa,ecs,rec,etc,are decent. + outstanding essay)</p>
<p>yipyip, if it comes down to two people who both have decent stats and outstanding essays, the one with the higher rank would obviously have the advantage. However, I don't think colleges would ever completely disregard an application because of a low(er) rank.</p>
<p>because my class rank may not even be in top 10%,but how about if my sat and AP (both sat I and II)scores are higher than those of the top 5 % students in my school?is it going to help?</p>
<p>yipyip, I would say yes, if you took a stronger courseload and then lost ranks because of getting lower grades in those harder classes.</p>
<p>You must also consider that while a large percentage of valedictorians and salutitorians make up a portion of the admitted freshmen, there are many that are #1 and #2 that get rejected, which is more taunting.</p>
<p>^And there are many students these days that take the most difficult course load and receive all "A's".</p>
<p>And they will note your ability to obtain an exceptional standardized score, which is a 'more accurate' predictor of your success in college.</p>
<p>it is also possible for schools to have anywhere from 1-40 vals depending on the school's grading system. I think that not being in the top 10% would not necessarily kill your chances. Keep in mind that colleges look for applicants that stand out from the crowd. An applicant whose rank is top 40% but has exhibited passion in an activity and can show the fruits of his/her labor is also strongly considered. Being able to get good grades in school is only one aspect of the whole application.</p>
<p>I'm ranked number 6 even though I've never made a B in high school since I took one less AP class than the valedictorian. Actually, I'm sort of #2, but since we have 5 people tied for number 2, we are all assigned number 6.</p>
<p>I go to a public high school that adds five points to your end of the semester grade for AP classes, just to encourage people to take them. Fan-freaking-tastic. </p>
<p>I'm honestly surprised they even consider class rank in light of the ridiculousness that goes in a lot of American High Schools with the wacky grades and ranking. Top 10% would be passable depending on your school and how inflated everybody's GPA is. I know my graduating class always has about 50% in first honors, 50% of whom don't make it past first semester in college. </p>
<p>I would say you should worry more about essays, test scores, and GPA than your class rank. If your course load is harder than the val's, that counts for something.</p>
<p>My school also adds quality points for AP courses, and I think that's what makes ranking an accurate factor. We never end up with ties. And the valedictorians end up being the people most successful with the quantity of AP courses taken.</p>
<p>But see, many people I know only have an A because of the quality points, so people who have taken more AP's but not actually made a high enough grade to earn an A get an A anyway and knock out people who took fewer AP's but got higher grades.</p>
<p>We get 2 points attendance on 9 weeks grades for showing up, then 5 points on the final semester grade. In all, not counting the final, you only need an 86 on each semester to get an A (+2 pts each 9 weeks, then the 5 at the end). In all, I know people who have gotten a 93 or 94 when I get a 99 or 98, which is still an A without the points, and they rank higher than I did. It skews the ranking.</p>
<p>We don't have any of the attendance points you are referring to.</p>
<p>Taking a huge course load is rare at my school, but those who do have accurate judgment and make A's in the AP courses they take when they certainly do twice (or more) the work than those not in AP. So the quality points serve their work justice. </p>
<p>That's why unweighed GPA is frustrating because all 92's in AP's is lower than an one-level streak of 98's. I guess there is a huge variation in the workload of AP's at my school.</p>
<p>My school doesn't do anything like that. We just have three levels of weighted courses: honors/AP, level 3, and level 2. I don't think there's even been a tie because it's very rare for students to have the exact same combination of grades/classes/levels.</p>
<p>^ same here. we get .5 quality points for Honors, and 1.0 quality points for AP. But it only counts for our GPA, not our average or unweighed GPA.</p>
<p>Our GPAs are also very specific because of the combinations of credits and scores would be seemingly impossible to be exactly the same.</p>
<p>We had a 4 way tie one year for valedictorian. It sucks hard. I remember in AP Calculus we watched The Office one week because it was near the end of the semester and nobody wanted to do anything.</p>
<p>And in Anatomy and Physiology, anytime we had a search or something, we didn't have class that day because the teacher said he didn't feel like it. He also preached the entire class about why the country was headed to hell in a handbasket now that Obama has been elected, and how he was "worried about the direction our country was headed." Luckily, if you forget to do any work and pick your nose at the back of class all year, we have those extra points...</p>
<p>My school probably doesn't represent the majority of schools on CC.</p>
<p>Oh, I forgot to mention that we get a 4.5 into GPA for honors and a 5.0 for AP in addition to the extra points.</p>
<p>Ohhh. Well I've heard of schools even choosing their valedictorians, which seems most absurd.</p>
<p>Does your school have good AP testing stats? Our school doesnt. each year there are a 'new AP teachers' and we have to do a lot of work to make up for our low potential to pass the AP test. that's why they are not appealing and no one wants to do the work or take the course.</p>
<p>My school votes for the valedictorian.</p>
<p>Anyway, this rank business is annoying. I'm pretty sure I'm first in my school, but the entire provincial school board did away with rankings this year because I guess they didn't want to come up with working equivalencies between IB diploma candidates and kids in the provincial curriculum. The data is there, but the guidance office can't officially give my rank. I asked my counselor "Won't this hurt me?" and she goes "Well when they see your grades they'll know." </p>
<p>RIDICULOUS</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm pretty sure they do that at our county's academic magnet programs. I think you deserve to be recognized if you are really number one ESPECIALLY with IB programs and such.</p>