<p>I recently received my class ranking, and i'm valedictorian. I was wondering what effect this will have on my chances of getting into some pretty good schools. I'm in a very competitive public texas high school with a class of 531 kids. Is ranking really that important? How much/little will this effect the impression I make in my application? </p>
<p>Thanks for your responses!</p>
<p>probably very little, depending how “good” the school is.</p>
<p>wow, way to make it sound like that’s not a big deal…congratulations, that’s amazing!!</p>
<p>It’s good? Not sure what exactly you are wanting to hear. Rank is important. A high rank will mean alot to less selective schools, but it won’t set you apart from applicants at really selective schools. </p>
<p>Being ranked 1/531 is hardly different than being ranked 8/531, if that’s what you’re asking. The title “Valedictorian” doesn’t mean much. But having a high rank is obviously helpful.</p>
<p>Thanks dancingdoctor! I’m pretty excited. I just didn’t want to come off as bragging about it. But it’s always nice to receive kind words on here!</p>
<p>On the one hand, every school in the US has a valedictorian . . . so that makes you one in 30,000 - 40,000.</p>
<p>On the other hand, you will presumably be applying to some of the same colleges as your classmates. Being valedictorian gives colleges a prima facie reason to regard you more highly than those classmates, so that’s a bonus for you.</p>
<p>It helps a lot. It’s true that every HS has a valedictorian, so in that sense it’s not a rare honor. But other things equal (e.g., grades, strength of curriculum, test scores, ECs, teacher and GC recs, essays), being valedictorian stands out as a signal accomplishment. Colleges pay attention. Harvey Mudd, arguably the nation’s premier math-science-engineering LAC, boasts that 25% of its entering class were HS valedictorians. Georgetown boasts 38%. Dartmouth says 39.9% of its Class of 2014 were HS valedictorians. </p>
<p>The other way to look at it is college acceptance rates. Most colleges don’t publish this information, but Brown says its acceptance rate for valedictorians in the Class of 2014 was 21%, compared to 16% for salutatorians, 11% for those in the top 10% of their class, and 2% for those in the second tenth and below. That’s a huge advantage.</p>
<p>Being valedictorian in and of itself doesn’t guarantee you anything, but other things equal it’s better than being anywhere else in your HS class by a pretty large margin.</p>
<p>The OP stated he’s from a competitive public school. There is a fair difference from being a val in a competitive public school and one that has no meritable reputation. </p>
<p>so congrats :)</p>
<p>For highly selective schools, it means little if your SATI 's are 1800, it means a lot if they are 2300+</p>