<p>By the midyear report I'll drop from rank 1 to 2. On the midyear report form I noticed that it also asks for the highest GPA in the class, which will be about .004 higher than mine. Will colleges just attribute this to some stupid little detail, which it is? I'm asking because, historically, Harvard has only accepted the valedictorian(for about 10 years now). I know correlation doesn't prove causation but I mean, there's a definite pattern.</p>
<p>“I’ll drop from rank 1 to 2”</p>
<p>“about .004 higher than mine”</p>
<p>Step back a little and apply some of your Harvard-aspiring critical thinking to your situation. I hope you’ll discover the answer.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter UNLESS Harvard has an agreement with the school to accept its valedictorian every year. </p>
<p>Agreements like this are NOT urban legend, they are the dirty little secret in college admissions.</p>
<p>At my son and daughter’s high school, Harvard has always selected students from the top 10% to 15% of a graduating class. Some years they took a group of students that included the valedictorian, other years they passed over the valedictorian and took lower ranked students who they found more to their liking. So, it all depends. </p>
<p>BTW: Colleges learn about your ranking through the Secondary School Report (SSR) that your guidance counselor fills out, so you might want to have a chat with your GC.</p>
<p>I think most colleges will admit you if you are first or second in the class.</p>
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<p>If Harvard takes the other dude over you because of .004, you don’t really want to go there.</p>
<p>Just write some smokin’ essays and show them all your non-gpa strengths.</p>
<p>You might want to check out some other schools, though . . . just to cover all the bases. All I’m saying is that being the V at your high school is no guaranty you’ll get into H.</p>