Class Rank

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>On the Harvard CDS it says that class rank is not considered...I don't see how this can possibly be true but I don't feel like they would be lying...any insight on this? </p>

2

<p>Colleges don’t need class rank to determine if an applicant is qualified,. Grades, how rigorous a schedule the applicant took, and the academic reputation of the high school are sufficient. A top 10% candidate at a top school that places dozens of students in top colleges each year has far better chances at Harvard than the valedictorian of a school that places none.</p>

<p>As it is, the majority of high schools don’t publish class rank anymore.</p>

3

<p>

</p>

<p>This is true but most high schools provide gpa distributions of some sort in the school profile sheet that AO’s use to eyeball where the student falls in the class. Also, if they know the school well, they know what a high gpa is and what isn’t. I suspect that Harvard dropped school rank as a consideration because they get tons of valedictorians who apply and they simply got tired of hearing from irate or distraught GC’s about their rejected val’s. idk, just a guess :slight_smile: </p>

4

<p>A lot of schools (colleges too) don’t like to give out class rank. The admissions office does need to “calibrate” your grades, but they presumably can do that based on prior applicants (and enrolled students) from the same school and the input they get from the guidance counsellor and the high school generally. If you’re at a school which has steadfastly resisted grade inflation, they probably know that. If you are and they don’t, I suppose that could be an issue.</p>

5

<p>@ThereAreLlamas will they call your GC directly and ask what kind of student you are? I ask this because I go to a school of over 3000 and we have little to no personal relationship with our GC’s (which i suppose will also come to be an issue for counselor recs as well) </p>

6

<p>Rather than rank, Harvard looks for students who have perfect (or near perfect) GPA’s. To wit: <a href=“The Harvard Crimson | Class of 2018 By the Numbers”>http://features.thecrimson.com/2014/freshman-survey/admissions&lt;/a&gt;

</p>

7

<p>No, I think it’s unlikely that they call huge number of guidance counselors, but what they get in the guidance counselor’s written recommendation is some sort of assessment of the rigor of your schedule, and what your record means in the big picture. As you note, at the vast majority of public schools, guidance counselors have so many students assigned to them (some of whom need guidance in directions other than toward college … like away from juvenile detention) that they don’t have much contact with individuals. But they do know the curriculum, and can put your record in context.</p>

8

<p>^^ Your guidance counselor sends your transcript to colleges along with your high school profile, which details the curriculum at your school. So, there’s no need for AO’s to call GC’s, even at school’s with 3,000+ students. If you haven’t seen your high school profile, ask your GC. For example, here are two high school profile’s:
<a href=“http://www.bls.org/ourpages/auto/2013/5/24/55204166/2014-15%20BLS%20Profile.pdf”>http://www.bls.org/ourpages/auto/2013/5/24/55204166/2014-15%20BLS%20Profile.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://stuy.enschool.org/ourpages/auto/2013/3/7/37096823/Stuyvesant%20Profile%202013-2014.pdf”>http://stuy.enschool.org/ourpages/auto/2013/3/7/37096823/Stuyvesant%20Profile%202013-2014.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;