<p>i mean... in a school with 410 kids... is there that much of a difference in the top 10 and the top 20? especially if it's a fairly good public school... the reason i ask is because i know there are certain kids who rank higher than me because they take exclusively honors classes, while i took ap classes... in case your wondering ap's and honors get the same weighting at my school... therefore does my 24 look that much worse than a rank of lets say 9?</p>
<p>Nah ;)
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<p>i assume this has happened to at least a couple of people on cc... i mean the ones who aren't valedictorians or salutorians...</p>
<p>yes, of course there's a difference between top 10 and top 20. or top 5 and top 10, for that matter. my friend had an interview for harvard with a 1560 on his SATs but is only ranked 12th in a class of about 320 kids. the interviewer gave him a weird look and said, "i guess you're not working up to your full potential, are you? you should be ranked higher than that." so it does matter. however, this is not to say that you don't have a chance with a lower rank; you'll just have to make up for it somewhere else.</p>
<p>like harder classes? hey fellow jerseyan... haha</p>
<p>So it's important to be at the top, is that what you're trying to say ReDbUll298? o_0</p>
<p>well, you should try the best you can. my friend is a slacker, lol, so he should be higher up than he is. i got a 1510 on my SATs but i'm ranked 4th in the class. that looks better to colleges because it shows you try to exceed your natural potential by working hard. just try to make sure your class rank reflects what you can really do.</p>
<p>No, there isn't a big difference. Especially if you go to a competitive school that's know by colleges. It's important to be in the top 10% at good schools. You don't even need that for a top college at great schools (maybe 20 in the Country).</p>
<p>It really depends on the selectivity of the colleges you're applying to. If you're looking at the Ivies and other highly selective colleges, 15 spots could make a difference. The correlation between class rank and SAT scores, AP grades, and so on is very clear for my grade. I'm ranked 9th in a class of similar numbers and I can tell you that my resume is much more competitive than someone ranked in the 20s. However, there are exceptions to every rule, and if you have a hook in other areas you should be able to overcome your rank. (And you're still almost in the top 5%, which is awesome.)</p>
<p>thanks... and surprisingly cornell was my first choice... still is... altho they rejected me... grrr...</p>
<p>"i guess you're not working up to your full potential, are you? you should be ranked higher than that." </p>
<p>That's sick.</p>
<p>yeah i know. but that's just harvard. they have thousands of applicants with great stats, so i guess they have to differentiate between them somehow.. but still, that wasn't necessary to say on an interview.</p>