<p>On the Harvard Common Data Sets for the past few years, it states that Class Rank is "Not Considered" among various application qualifications. Does this outright mean that Harvard will not look at your class rank, and simply judge you based on your GPA and rigor of coursework? Also, could this mean that Harvard isn't conventionally using the Academic Index or other academic ratings? Hopefully I'm not being a moron and overlooking something that would easily answer my questions. :)</p>
<p>Class Rank is not considered because a student’s rank is NOT a fair barometer of a student’s potential. To wit: a 4.0 student who got an ‘A’ in basket weaving, lanyard making and pottery is not the same as the student who got an ‘A-’ in AP Calc BC, Physics C, and AP Euro, etc. Therefore, Harvard discounts rank, and instead looks at a student’s course rigor and the GPA they received in core courses, such as Math, English, Science., History, and Foreign Language. Like many colleges, Harvard actually recalculates a high school student’s GPA using their own institutional formula, which discounts easy "A’ courses such as gym, chorus, theater, health etc.</p>
<p>Thank you for such a comprehensive answer gibby! And thank you Harvard for discounting class rank (I suffer from an abundance of individuals above me in class rank, yet haven’t taken half as a hard a schedule as I have)</p>
<p>@whartondreamer
your example is perhaps one of the many reasons that gibby outlined in why schools like Harvard “disregard” class rank… Most schools’ class ranks are determined by weighted GPA which works well to prevent the whole easier but more As is not better than harder but not as many As situation. Obviously, the system is not perfect because the ball is still in the students’ courts in high school which leads to many people “working” the system in hopes of clearing above everyone in class rank…</p>