<p>Seems like they would put greater weight on class rank because that way you are actually being compared with your peers while GPA can be subjective based on what school you go to. I know certain private schools have tougher classes, so their students get lower GPA's then some public schools. So do colleges look more closely at rank or GPA?</p>
<p>totally depends on the school in question…but it seems to me based on my daughter’s experience that for top schools, GPA>rank, especially for merit scholarships…</p>
<p>any thoughts, anyone else?</p>
<p>No need to ask for opinions 
; you can answer the question yourself. Google “common data set” for each school of interest; section C7 gives the exact answer. The format is below, with a check box under the appropriate weighting:</p>
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<p>Yes, but rank is totally wrong to base someone off. If a student attends a really good public or provate school, they are likely to be ranked lower than someone who attends an average or less-than-average school. As GPA is not a good indicator, I don’t think rank is either.</p>
<p>I bet they take into consideration the ranks of your high school when your school sends a profile. What kinds of SAT scores does your school have? What are its state test scores? How many people are in the IB/AP programs? What is the racial/economic composition of the school?</p>
<p>After they see the stats of the school, they probably look at your GPA within the context of your school, and then your Class rank. I bet the GPA is still the principal indicator they use because of how different each high school is in its difficulty.</p>