<h2>So I go to school that doesn't rank. We don't even fill in the box on the common app that says "We don't rank. Instead, please indicate quartile, decile." However, there are boxes on the secondary school report that asks your counselor to check a box about your 'Academic Achievement' in the top 25, 10, 5, 1%, etc categories. Does Yale estimate your rank like that, or some other way?</h2>
<p>And, my school happens to have a weird GPA system--in short, an A is 4.3, A- 4.0, B+ 3.6, etc with honors adding +2/3 of a point--and only has it calculated for grades 11 & 12. Mine's a little bit over the school average for Yale-acceptance.
However, by a 4.0 scale I have a ~3.81 unweighted over all four years, and even lower if you only include academic classes. This, I'm safely assuming, is much lower than the average four-year-GPA-yale-acceptee at my school. That has to do with adjustment issues after moving, though. How does Yale deal with this situation?</p>
<p>According to the book A is for Admissions, Ivy league schools base your ranking by the quartile/decile system. Unfortunately for you this is a disadvantage because they assume the worst, and that you are at the lowest part of the range your counselor listed. For example, if your counselor said you were in the top 10% of your class, they assume you were at 10%.</p>
<p>As for your GPA system, your counselor most likely sent in a sheet that explains the schools grading system. (Pretty much what you listed above and more) He or she also filled in information on your recommendation that lists the top GPA in the school and your GPA. </p>
<p>Also if moving had anything to do with your grades and your counselor was aware of it, he or she most likely would have listed the details in the recommendation.</p>
<p>Final word of advice, NEVER compare yourself to another student when it comes to admissions. There are too many factors involved to just boil it down to grades. Essays, teacher and counselor recs, Extra curriculars, awards, test scores, your personal life (ie: family issues, if any), and even more stuff contribute to your application. Think about it, if it all came down to grades, you’d only see perfect ACT/SAT students with 4.0 unweighted GPA’s at the school. ;)</p>
<p>Most schools have a “school profile” which they send out to colleges. Maybe see if you can find a copy of your school’s. It should explain all the oddities in your school system. :)</p>