<p>What's more important to colleges? As of now I have about a 3.6, but that will most likely go up because I did really well last semester. While this is pretty solid, I'm only in the top 30% of my class.</p>
<p>The rank is a bigger factor, but still not the most important thing.</p>
<p>According to a sheet I picked up from the college counselor at my school, the top few factors are:</p>
<ol>
<li>Grades in college prep classes</li>
<li>Admission test scores (SATs, etc.)</li>
<li>Grades in all subjects</li>
<li>Class rank</li>
</ol>
<p>So, it looks like GPA is more important than class rank.</p>
<p>The class rank gives them an idea of what the gpa really means. In some high schools, there are 40+ people with 4.0's because the grading is easy. In other schools, A's are very hard to come by. The gpa and the rank are considered together.</p>
<p>Some high schools do not rank. In this case, they will look at the high school profile that is sent to them along with your transcript. The profile will typically have a gpa distribution that they can use to estimate your rank.</p>
<p>I just found out today that my school doesn't rank, OR calculate weighted GPA :eek: :( :mad:</p>
<p>Don't worry, that sheet is pretty wrong. It's obviously biased toward the more non-competitive schools. Most schools will first look at how challenging your courseload was, then the prestige of your school, then your class rank (to account for grade inflation at many schools), then your test scores. And if you're applying to something like an ivy, these are all expected to be good, so they'll look at EC's and essays before all of them</p>
<p>if your school provides rank, then it is generally more important than GPA... after all what does a 4.0 really mean in itself? nothing.</p>
<p>however, if you go to some competitive prep school that is known for being cutthroat, colleges will see this on the school profile. i think that my assertion definitely applies however to most public high schools</p>
<p>to add to what dufus said, over 50% of hs's do not publish rank.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Don't worry, that sheet is pretty wrong. It's obviously biased toward the more non-competitive schools. Most schools will first look at how challenging your courseload was, then the prestige of your school, then your class rank (to account for grade inflation at many schools), then your test scores. And if you're applying to something like an ivy, these are all expected to be good, so they'll look at EC's and essays before all of them
[/quote]
</p>
<p>After you qualify on curriculum, gpa/rank, and standardized test scores, then they look at EC's and try to identify unique individuals. Of course, I still think they look at curriculum, gpa/rank and test scores. I don't think they just skip over them assuming they are excellent. :)</p>
<p>It is true that they won't split hairs over extremely high test scores. A 1550 and a 1600/1600 are basically the same thing. Higher scores do help, I think. Harvard acceptance rate is about 10%, but it is 30% for applicants with perfect 1600's on the SAT's. According to the 50% SAT range, I believe that 25% of the accepted applicants have 1580+.</p>
<p>The prestige of your high school is a whole topic. In general, they don't favor particular high schools unless it is a feeder high school, such as TJ is a feeder for UVA, or some NY high schools are feeders for Columbia.</p>
<p>"Harvard acceptance rate is about ... 30% for applicants with perfect 1600's on the SAT's."</p>
<p>:eek:</p>
<p>Actually, it is more like 40-45%. This is usually used by Harvard hopefuls to show that SAT scores aren't everything and that they have a chance because of their EC's. According to "Making It Into A Tope College" by Greene, in a recent year, there were 683 SAT test-takers nationwide who scored a perfect 1600. Of these, about two thirds applied to Harvard. Of the ones who applied, less than 200 were accepted. The above information is consistent with Harvard's yield and 50% SAT range. </p>
<p>The 50% SAT range of 1400-1580 is probably more telling. It doesn't really work to say that an applicant has a 1420 and so in in the range. 25% of accepted applicants are 1580+. With the population being that skewed, the median is probably around 1530 or so. (That would mean 25% between 1580-1600 and 25% between 1530-1580.) The 50% of the accepted applicants below 1530 are URM's, development cases, athletes, VIP's, people with incredible hooks such as national honors for whatever they do, and probably a fair number of people with either high Math and low Verbal, or vice versa. A 800 Math and 600 Verbal with 800's on the Math, Physics, and Chemistry SAT II's is still a 1400.</p>