how colleges look at grades/ECs

Applying to College
1

<p>I have a fairly good GPA (3.88 unweighted, my school doesn't weight) which is barely in the top 10% of my class right now (I'm a rising senior) and I heard places like MIT rarely (<<10%) accept those that aren't in the top 5% of their class. I did transfer from another school in 9th grade with really crushing biology/english classes and have only one B after 9th grade, and most of the people in my school don't take as many advanced classes (I've taken 5 APs so far, I think?), and my SAT I is about 800math/750reading/720writing but because of the 5% thing I feel like I'll be at a major, major disadvantage when it comes to college apps at the most competitive colleges.</p>

<p>My second question, as dumb as it may sound, is what colleges count as "extracurriculars". There aren't a lot of school-wide extracurriculars I do during the school year. I play piano and tennis (not in school) during the school year, and do academic super bowl in the spring. I also have done AMCs/AIME (for math) since 9th grade and USA computing/physics olympiads, but idk whether those count as extracurriculars.</p>

<p>btw this isn't so much about asking about chances to certain colleges as it is about clarifying some of the above :P</p>

2

<p>You should go over the common application so you have a better idea what colleges look for. To answer your question about ranking, even if your school doesn’t rank your GC will check off the box on the LOR to let colleges know if you took the most rigorous courses possible and if you are top 1%, 5% or 10% or your class (just read for LOR form). Your ECs do not need to be at school, they can be outside of school. Everything you have listed can be included as ECs, you may want to think hard if they should be “awards” or ECs.</p>