Class Rank... Frustrating

Applying to College
1

<p>Okay, so I'm in a class of (currently) 135 kids, but we have a big dropout rate, and I'm guessing only around 85 will earn a diploma at graduation.</p>

<p>At this point, I'm ranked 2nd out of 135, which is good. The problem is that I'm taking 4 AP classes next year, and there's a chance that I'll get a B in at least one of them. If I get even one B next year, nine kids will jump ahead of me, and I'll be ranked 11th at the least.</p>

<p>The completely unfair part is that eight of these nine kids who would be ranked ahead of me have never even taken an AP or honors course! The school board doesn't factor in AP/Honors in ranking, so me and my small group of friends who do take AP and honors classes offered are struggling very hard to remain in the top 10%.</p>

<p>In case I get a B next year, is there anything I can do to show colleges that this rank is somewhat flawed?</p>

<p>(I'm applying to Yale, Brown, Stanford, Rice, and LSU).</p>

2

<p>Ask your guidance counselor to make note of it.</p>

3

<p>Also, make sure you select some safety schools.</p>

4

<p>silverturtle - I’ll do that. I just really hope it gets the point across.</p>

<p>An0maly - My safety school is LSU (Louisiana State University), my state flagship. I have a 2180 on the SAT and a 3.94 GPA (unweighted) right now, so I shouldn’t have any trouble getting in.</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>Your school’s practice is not particularly rare, and colleges are aware of how it can disadvantange those who take rigorous courseloads.</p>

6

<p>Rank is considered in light of rigor. If your curriculum is substantially more difficult than those ranked higher than you that should be made clear by the indication on the Common App that yours was “most rigorous” and theirs wasn’t.</p>

7

<p>Right, but no one in my school is applying to the schools I’m applying to (except my safety school), so they wouldn’t know what the courseload was like for the higher-ranked students.
Should I tell the school guidance counselor exactly what to put for the sidenote? It may seem a bit presumptuous, I don’t know her well. But I feel like I should do it, just to be positive that these universities understand the situation at hand.</p>

8

<p>The Common Application asks guidance counselors whether the rank is determined by weighted or unweighted GPAs.</p>

9

<p>decresendo - that is very frustrating, but it happens all the time. At our school the #3 kid figured out how to “play” the system by taking no AP’s/honors and loaded up on fun electives and a study hall. He ended up passing #1 & #2 for valedictorian (by a fraction of a point) What really ticked everyone off is that this kid just did it for fun and will be attending a school where rank doesn’t mean as much as a top 20 school.</p>

<p>You HAVE to be your own cheerleader with the GC and sometimes even challenge (politely) them.</p>

10

<p>Isn’t rank based on the end of junior year? No final grades will be posted until long after applications are in, so your rank should not change before the application season.</p>

11

<p>I don’t think rank itself matters that much to the most selective schools–what matters is your grades in the context of the rigor of your courseload. (Indeed, a lot of high schools don’t rank at all.) So don’t worry about it…unless you live in Texas.</p>

12

<p>silverturtle - Okay, that should help alot haha. Thanks.</p>

<p>kajon - Yeah, it really sucks. I’m going to be as polite as possible with the GC when the time comes, but if she takes it the wrong way, it could hurt my GC Recommendation.</p>

<p>MD Mom - I’m a rising junior. Haha I know, I’m thinking way too far ahead, that’s what many people tell me. But I’m considering applying EA for Yale, and if I do, I’ll have to start readying my application a year from now.</p>

13

<p>@Hunt: Was the Texas part a joke?</p>

14

<p>^ the top 10% of any texas high school get automatic admission to the University of Texas. So if you drop to 11 out of 85, then you don’t get auto-admit. Which luckily, the OP lives in Louisana, so its not a problem</p>

15

<p>Ah, didn’t know that was what he was referring too.</p>

16

<p>Honestly, if you can’t get an A in all classes at that uncompetitive of a HS, Yale is unlikely.</p>

17

<p>Redroses - It’s very deceiving, because my school has two very different sections: the gifted program (best by far in the area) which is very small (about 20 kids per grade), and the regular program, which is very poor like the rest of the schools in the area. I’m quite confident that I’ll get all A’s in everything but Bio AP, in which only one student in the last four years has gotten an A. Even that, though, might not be a problem. I’m going to put in maximum effort next year. I think a 4.0 is very likely.</p>