<p>Good point, filmxoxo17. Adcoms say that they don't have a limit on how many kids they will take from any particular school. But if the top kids from your school are applying and you are in the mid-deciles in GPA, it is hard to see how you can get chosen without a great hook (sports, development case, national talent).</p>
<p>I agree with ag54. My daughter attends a private high school where (I'm told) no one has ever graduated with a perfect GPA. The grading is ridiculously harsh and even star students have B's in their transcripts. It's an incredibly talented group of kids: Each year, at least half the class is commended/semi-finalist/finalist/or winner of merit scholarships. Moreover, there's little difference between the first decile and the third because they're all smart, smart kids. The effect has been that kids in your son's position have done just fine. The top half of the class (and then some--depending on the year--this last year was an unusually accomplished class) ends up at top tier schools. In fact, we saw lower ranked students get into one HYP-type school while the tippy top students were rejected from that school but accepted to a different HYP-type school. </p>
<p>By comparison, our local high school is an excellent suburban public school with lots of able, bright kids. Even though many more of these kids graduated with perfect GPAs and high SATs, relatively few of them were accepted at the same top schools. </p>
<p>Rank may be less important when you are dealing with a competitive private school. I suspect your son will be fine with colleges where the high school is known.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, son's GC just notified the kids who are NMS/F & there are 34 of them out of the 200 seniors in the school & 70+ NMS/F in the entire state. The GC admits that there's not all that much difference between the top decile & the top half of the class. Can you tell this is a REALLY academic school?</p>
<p>Son still doesn't know where he wants to go, but is happy to be among the NMS/F. He's had some severe health challenges that have caused him to miss LOTS of school (30-60+ days/year, every year in high school), but he's still been able to keep up via self-study. I guess he'll just apply widely to the schools he really cares about & see how everything works out. His GC will help him to be sure to include some reaches, matches & safeties, I guess
HImom</p>
<p>Apologies if someone else has mentioned this, but unfortunately USNWR counts the number of kids in the top 10% as one of their ranking factors. I don't think people always know how much those rankings matter to admissions people. I was amazed that a top ten LAC put on the front of their web page that they had moved up a notch! </p>
<p>Being in the top 11% doesn't help them. My colleagues tell me this is why a school would - other things being equal, such as SATs and GPA - take a top 10% from a public over a middle- of-the-pack from a private. Top 10% is the gold standard. My own experience bears this out. Your mileage may vary, of course, and there are always anecdotes, exceptions that prove the rule, etc.</p>