<p>Does class rank matter so much if you are in top 10 , or top 12? I thought on application they ask if you are top 10, top quarter etc.</p>
<p>How about if you have more than 100 kids in your class, do they go by top 10% in that case? </p>
<p>Can someone explain how is class rank used in admission process.</p>
<p>It depends upon the school. Look at the Common Data Set, section C7 to see how much rank is weighted. Then look farther down in the C section for the ranking levels of the most recent class.</p>
<p>On the Common App it asks how your school reports rankings:</p>
<p>By decile
By quartile
By exact rank etc.</p>
<p>You choose one depending on what your school uses (ask your counselor) and if it’s exact rank then you put in just that. If it’s decile put in top 10%, and in this case it doesn’t matter what part of the top 10% you are. Whether you’re ranked 5th or 35th out of 400 students, it won’t matter since colleges won’t see that.</p>
<p>You can self report your rank, as Truust says, by exact number or percent or decile as you choose. But, if your school includes rank on your transcript, that info will trump the way you elect to self-report your rank. In any event, the use of rank in admissions varies from school to school. Some just look for top 10% or even automatically admit students at a certain percentile. Others are particularly seeking vals and sals and someone in the number 3 spot doesn’t have the same advantage as those top two. The common data set only breaks down rank into deciles (for schools that even provide that much CDS info.) But, at many selective schools top 5% has become more of a bright line, regardless of class size.</p>
<p>^ How would you be able to put down a figure of top 5% if the common app doesn’t even have an option like that?</p>
<p>In my case I put down my exact class rank even though my transcript has it in increments of 5% Do you guys think this will be a problem?</p>
<p>It’s fine to self report your rank as you see fit, so long as you are truthful. Schools will know if you are top 5% from your transcript.</p>