The title pretty much says it all. I am not in the top 10% of my high school class (74/702 ), due to terrible grades freshman year. I have gotten good grades since then but still not in the top ten percent of my class.
I have a 34 on my ACT. I have been fairly successful in science olympiad. I am the vice president of a big local charity
and I am one of the top MUN delegates nationally. I am also Puerto Rican (which I heard helps a bit). So, I want to know if I have done enough to have colleges overlook my class rank. The school of my dreams is Washington University in St. Louis, but only 5% of their admits were not in the top ten percent of their class. I am really worried about this and tbh a little depressed.
So, I have two questions:
Is my application strong enough to make up for my class rank?
What happens if I don’t put my class rank on parchment? (I mean, a 3.75/4.33 gpg sounds good without the context)
Not for us to decide. I would say it would be fairly strong since you're URM and nationally ranked in MUN.
A 3.75 UW GPA for WUSTL is not that great. I would actually put the class rank on there to show that your school is still fairly competitive and that a good number of B's still puts you at/around the 10% mark.
WUSTL I believe is a bit more stats-oriented than some of the other top schools, so hard to tell.
Under Represented Minority. Also if you attend school in a rural district, a low-performing urban district, or if neither parent got a 4-year college degree.
Is your class rank weighted or unweighted? If your class rank is low because you have hard classes, it’ll be seen more favorably than if you mostly have “regular” classes with only a handful of honors classes.
As adults on this website are fond of saying: don’t have a dream school, have a dream life.
Don’t fixate on WashU. Look for defining characteristics: what do you like about this college?
Then look for colleges that share the same characteristics. Post on the Parents Forum and ask: what colleges that you recommend that have …, …, and …, but not …?
Freshman year gets less weight than subsequent years so if that’s the only thing holding you back, apply and consider it a reach. According to the Common Data Set, Section C (which you should check for every school you are considering applying to), they admit 5% of their class from those who were not in the top 10%. I’m betting that group includes URMs (like you), first generation to college (?), athletic recruits, legacies, big donor kids, etc…So it’s a long shot for you, but not out of the question.
The reported percentage of kids in the top 10% is a stat collected AFTER admissions. It’s not a litmus test to see whether or not to admit any single individual.
You’re mistaking cause and effect, correlation and causation.
Congrats on your ACT and solid GPA growth. You’ll do fine – maybe not to every school but you’re a valued applicant to many colleges. Relax
Plus, all you need is 4 of those kids to move out of your school and you’re IN! hahahaha
Haha thanks. Actually my school just got a ton of new students with ridiculously high gpas from other schools… My class rank lowered a bit… But yeah, I should stop worrying about it, nothing I can do…
Ask your GC if he could say something like, if we discounted 01’s freshman grades he/she would be in the top 10% of the class. In any event there’s nothing you can do and really your rank is quite good, though, I know it is frustrating not to quite make the cut for 10%.
Also, if you know WUSTL is your definite top choice and financial aid is not a huge problem, I’d recommend to apply ED! It can definitely boost your chances if you think you are lacking somewhere in your application.
Full pay at WUSTL also improves your chances. Their admissions discriminates against those planning to apply for financial aid. So that is a school where wealthy students with lower credentials will be admitted over less wealthy students with higher credentials.
T26E4, I’m surprised to hear that the top 10% statistic is collected only after admissions decisions. The guidance counselor’s recommendation explicitly asks how this student ranks (or at least used to) so I assume this information is available and is used as part of the admissions process. Am I mistaken about this?