<p>I'm in a pretty competitive school. It's not Stuy, but we've been consistently ranked either best or second best in New Hampshire.</p>
<p>The problem I have is that my weighted GPA of 3.7 would easily be a 4.3 or so at another school. And that GPA only places me at twenty-second class rank out of fifty-seven. That's only like 60th percentile. I'm afraid that colleges will see this and they won't understand that my school is difficult.</p>
<p>The Principal always goes on and on during assemblies that "colleges know our school, they think we're great, they'll weigh that in, blah blah blah" but I'm not buying it. It's a school of 400 in one of the smallest states in the US; I doubt they've ever heard of it.</p>
<p>Stuy is cut-throat, but the grade inflation there is outrageous and ridiculous.</p>
<p>I've heard the "B" at my school is better than an "A" at Public School X argument many times.</p>
<p>If your school is competitive and well-known, a lower than run-of-the-mill GPA shouldn't be a problem. And, since rank bears no purpose at a school as small as yours, your guidance counselor would probably submit a cumulative GPA distribution chart that shows where you stand relative to your peers.</p>
<p>If your school has consistently had a strong college profile, then your principal is right.</p>
<p>You won't have much luck with a place like UPenn that places a ludicrous amount of emphasis on class rank, but there are many other fine institutions that will take into account your circumstances.</p>