<p>After reading A is for Admissions and the portion about the Ivy "academic index", it seems that it is disadvantageous for students at the top of their classes to attend a school that does not rank, since they will be assumed to be in the middle of their reported decile/quintile/etc. (so at the 95th percentile if you are in the first decile).</p>
<p>I'm probably about 4th or 5th in a class of 500. If my school were to rank, my AI would be a lot higher that it is without the ranking. I'm worried as a result.</p>
<p>Will schools realize where I am when considering my application, or will the lack of ranking mess things up?</p>
<p>I think adcoms are pretty good at figuring out where you are at in relation to your classmates - rank or no rank. Plus, your college counselor can help clear things up in a rec letter, if needed.</p>
<p>You can talk with your counselor and hopefully compel him/her to at least put an accurate percentile. If you’re in the top 10%, it could make a difference if you’re in the top percent, etc.</p>
<p>You are not at a disadvantage attending a school that does not rank. The school profile generally has enough info to show about where you stand in your class.</p>
<p>Without a specific rank they will just pay more attention to your gpa and transcript. Based on your description I don’t see that as being a bad thing for you.</p>
<p>How would they figure out where you are in relation to your classmates?</p>
<p>Specifically if multiple people (30ish) have perfect 4.0s (school doesn’t weight)?
Being top 30 in a class of 200 would be ~15%…would this reflect negatively on my app?</p>