<p>I know a lot of colleges take into class rank when considering acceptance. My question is, how much does it matter? I've got a 3.75 GPA at my school and I am about 75/390. I see many people with the same GPA in the top 5% of their class or something of the sort. It seems a bit unfair to me, how does this factor in anything about me except the intelligence of my classmates? Can someone explain this to me?</p>
<p>I have not seen people with a 3.75 GPA in the top 5%.</p>
<p>If your school ranks, then ranking is important. The fact you are top 20% of your class with 3.75 gpa could be due to grade inflation. You are always look at relative to your peers at school, state, region…</p>
<p>There are schools that give out 4.0s like candy and there are schools where 4.0s are a prize held by very few. To tell the difference, colleges rely on class rank and data from your counselor/previous applicants. </p>
<p>Someone may have a 3.75 and be in the top 5% because their school grades harshly while grading at your school is more lenient. Colleges know how to read between the lines, they don’t just take your GPA at point blank.</p>
<p>Look at the Common Data Set, section C7, for each school you are interested in attending. The CDS shows the relative weight given for each attribute considered in admission.</p>
<p>@ED thanks, there’s also other very useful information there. Many thanks again!</p>