<p>I'm applying as a transfer student and I was wondering whether high school grades are more important than high school ranking. I went to a prestigious private school in a foreign country where I managed to graduate in the Top 10%, however, my grades are not that good.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I would say your ranking is more important in most cases. Being valedictorian is going to override a 3.7 GPA.</p>
<p>However, in many cases, class rank can be harmful. At my school, all the people who took drama, art, band, or dance were at a disadvantage because these classes are unweighted. This means that taking just one of this classes all four years could bring down your rank by as many as 20 places - so even if your grades were perfect, someone who took just one more AP class than you (that they may have gotten a B in) would be ranked higher. </p>
<p>The moral is, they look at each school in context :).</p>