Son’s class rank is 72/509 and UMD CP is top choice
UMD’s common data set says that class rank is “important.”
https://irpa.umd.edu/InstitutionalData/cds.html
Look at section C.
According to the 2018 Common Data set from the UMD CP website, over 91% of the students attending had GPA’s of 3.75 or higher (see item C11). However they also reported an average HS GPA of 4.28 which is not possible unless they were mixing in weighted GPA’s. Straight A’s are 4.0 most places.
On the “academic” side: Academic rigor, test scores and GPA are all equally ranked in section C7 as “VERY IMPORTANT.” Class rank (when given), essay, and recommendations are listed as “IMPORTANT.”
On the “non-academic” side: Talent (how measured?), first generation and state residency are listed as “important.”
It appears that GPA is more important than RIC,
What is your secondary school history by GPA on admission over the past few years. See if you can obtain a copy of the HS profile which is usually forwarded with the student’s transcript to Universities. Guidance should be a help here.