<p>When applying can colleges find your class rank via high school?</p>
<p>well if your school puts it on the transcript they send then the colleges will see it but otherwise the adcom would probably just assume your school doesn't rank, as many don't (mine for example), and therefore they would never know</p>
<p>Class rank is very important to many colleges, especially ones like Harvard. On the Secondary School Report for the Common App, if the school does not rank specifically, the counselor is asked to estimate which quintile and decile you fall in. They are also instructed to tell admissions what your cumulative GPA is and what the highest GPA in your class is. If your school does rank, the counselor has to tell them what your rank is, how big your class is, how many people share your rank, etc.</p>
<p>So, the short answer is yes -- colleges can and almost certainly will find out your class rank from your high school.</p>
<p>I second what siemprecuriosa said, but that's if your school actually publishes rank and gpa. For example, my school has neither, and our guidance counselor says he never gives nor estimates rank for colleges. Nonetheless, we get a large number of students going to HYP. I think more schools should follow this system.</p>
<p>I think schools need to rank. My school makes something called "hypothetic Val and Sal" and it is pretty stupid. I think I am Val, though I could be Sal. They do not put it on the report because they say that the school is very competitive (WHICH IT IS NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT). It's so much BS, their reason is you fall behind the 50th percentile even if you are below a 3.96... It is just bloody grade inflated.</p>
<p>Oh well. </p>
<p>To answer your question, colleges do their best to find out even if the school does not rank.</p>