I saw Georgetown’s class profile and they accepted about half of the valedictorians that applied. I don’t remember the numbers for 2nd and 3rd, but they were also much higher than the average acceptance rate. If I am ranked 1 or 2 is it really a significant boost or is it just because higher ranked students might also have some amazing extracurriculars to supplement that rank?
In my opinion, it is absolutely a boost, Similarly, the people applying who are not in the top 10% better have a really good hook or they are not getting in. I am hoping my daughter being in the top 5% at a school with 30 NMSF is good enough.
Being number 1,2, or 3 will be a boost anywhere. The single greatest indicator of success in college is success in high school
I think context is everything. Remember, Georgetown recruits heavily from catholic prep schools. So, being 1st in a class of 100 at a catholic school in the midwest may be a little different than being 20th in your class at Stuyvesant in NYC. If you have a high class rank and great test scores and you think the school is a good fit, then apply.