<p>Hi, Im a senior who has moved high school three times (in three different countries) and my current school is an extremely competitive one.</p>
<p>They have converted my past schools' scores (two different scales) into a scale that they use here, which puts me at a 3.8 GPA, top 25% rank and a "most competitive" rigor</p>
<p>Although my SAT is 2350+ (Single sitting), and all three subject tests are 800, and my ECs are pretty solid (I've tried to be continuous in my passions no matter where I went and generally had positions in all of the clubs I was/am involved in except for one case) - I'm worried that my top 25% GPA will hurt me for HYPS.
(My counselor stated the reason for such a low class rank in his rec letter, but 25% is still waaaay too low! For example, only 5% of Harvard's admits were not in the top 10% of their class!)</p>
<p>To be fair, I was first in my two previous schools, and this conversion thing really screwed me over...
Sorry if this sounds like an excuse to you guys, but I was really worried about this and wanted to hear your opinions on it! Will HYPS honestly be too much of a reach? Will colleges understand my situation?
Thanks a lot :)</p>
<p>“Will HYPS honestly be too much of a reach?” This is true for 99.9% of applicants. </p>
<p>The stat about % of admits not in the top 10% is an after the fact number pulled to make themselves look nice. Most high schools provide NO rank whatsoever.</p>
<p>Your SAT is a solid indicator that you’re academically qualified. Just like most of those 99.9 I referred to earlier. If one or some of these colleges really intrigues you, you should apply.</p>
<p>Everything is a hurdle for HYPS. Is it one? Yes. But having only “solid” ECs instead of “spectacular ECs” are a hurdle as well. Go ahead and apply. But be prepared to not be accepted, as all applicants to them should. Apply to some other schools that you are more sure of acceptance to (and know you can afford, and are willing to attend). Stop stressing about this, it is something you can’t change anyway.</p>
<p>haha i meant that they are “spectacular”! I just didn’t see why I had to be too vain about it online… If it interests you, I was either pres/vp/editor in chief of all the ECs I was involved in, founded a club and etc (Im scared people are gonna recognize me if I provide more details ) but yeah- sure that sounds good. It’s not like i can change it anyways… gracias! does anyone have other comments?? </p>
<p>I don’t know if you understand about HYPS. Spectacular ECs are strong on the national level, at a minimum tops in your state on something, or founding a company that people have heard of with significant revenues, or founding a charity that is large and has a big impact. Otherwise you are solid, but much like the rest of the applicant pool. Stop obsessing about these four schools – there are literally thousands of colleges in the US, and you can get a great education and reach whatever your future goals are at many of them.</p>
<p>To summarize… No, I don’t think that the manufacturered 25% ranking is going to hurt you in such a way as to remove you from the list of qualified candidates – many schools (like my children’s) do not rank at all. I would recommend that in the “Additional Info” section of the Common App, that you put a SIMPLE explanation – don’t make excuses, simply note that your ranking in your prior two standings was first and some simple 1-2 sentence note that you attended three high schools. All of this being said, my comment simply means that this ranking won’t exclude you from the pool of qualified candidates - whether or not you will be accepted is completely up to your application package. </p>
<p>As long as your list of applications also includes 3-4 “target” schools (those that accept let’s say 25% of applicants and your scores/grades are above their 75th percentile) and 1-2 “likely” schools (schools for which you are overqualified and/or accept 40% of applicants or more). AND each of your targets and likelies are schools that you have investigated as deeply, or even MORE deeply, than your reaches. Because these are the schools that you are most likely going to be accepted by – so you need to make sure that you really would be happy attending one of them.</p>
)?</p>
) but yeah- sure that sounds good. It’s not like i can change it anyways… 
gracias! does anyone have other comments?? 
</p>