<p>I moved between my 10-11th grade year and it really messed up my class ranking. I was wondering if Stanford places alot of emphasis in class rank as opposed to SATs and grades. I'm trying to decide wether to do SCEA stanford or ED upenn.</p>
<p>Also I have the impression that Stanford places great emphasis on EC's. Is this true?</p>
<p>I don't know the answer to your "rank" question, but as for ECs - you don't need many, but they do expect you to be exceptionally good at something.</p>
<p>Class rank is generally very important. However, if your class rank would normally be great but it is skewed by a change of schools it won't be held against you. Be sure to have your guidance counselor explain that your rank isn't accurately represented because you switched schools. It also might be notable to obtain your rank from your previous high school for grades 9-10 if it is considerably higher.</p>
<p>EDIT: Penn places more emphasis on rank than Stanford does. Penn is very rank-GPA conscious, perhaps the most among the Ivy League + Stanford + MIT. Stanford may perhaps be the least, but rank is still important.</p>
<p>stambliark, how do u know this? adcom friend?</p>
<p>Primarily from statistics, but also observation.</p>
<p>I also moved for my 10-11th grade year, but I did way better compared to my grades at my former int'l school (that school was really hard) that looks good too?</p>
<p>Do colleges differentiate between a rank of 1 and a rank of 2 and 3 and 4?</p>
<p>you are expected to be in the top 10%</p>
<p>So basically, once you are in the top 10%, Stanford doesn't care about your ranking anymore?</p>
<p>ummm honestly if your not number 1 in your class, you are now in a minority of acceptees. Does that mean you dont have a shot? No. Its just very difficult to get in. top 10% is a good guide, but the higher the better..</p>
<p>I am currently number one, but my high school is pretty competitive, so taking extra AP classes forced a little trade-off with extracurriculars. For example, I did not have time to play sports this year, while the number two person did really well in the state in tennis. So my question is really how much weight colleges give to the distance between the rank 1 and the rank 2.</p>
<p>Many schools don't rank students any more. If you take the most challenging classes and do well in them, the exact rank does not matter as long as you are in top 10%.</p>
<p>A lot of times students have lower rank because they happened to take an extra class which is unweighted (like jazz band or art). So #2 has everything #1 does + an A in extra class, but his GPA ends up being lower. Colleges know that, so your exact # does not matter.</p>
<p>From what I've seen, there is a difference between the ranks. To say that there is no difference b/w #1 & top 10% is ridiculous. For example, Brown posts detailed statistics about its admissions decisions. Brown accepts 33% of Valedictorians and 8% of those ranked 6th-10th percentiles in their class. There is clearly a big difference b/w Val and "top 10%," but as long as you're in the top 10% you at least have a shot.</p>
<p>BTW collegecanwait, that's not quite correct. About 1/3 of the accepted class is Valedictorian and about 1/2 is Val or Sal (this is among ranked applicants). There are still a decent amount of spots for those not ranked one or two, but I agree it does help to be in one of those 1st two slots.</p>
<p>I think its true that your number in rank is not as important. Since last sememster i was number 35 yet was not only in 10 percent but also in 5 percent because my class size was about 600 kids. Also i think ec count more than people think cause a resident there told me they looked at his ec's intensively when applied to university.</p>
<p>my school doesn't calculate rank
boy am i glad</p>
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my school doesn't calculate rank
boy am i glad
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</p>
<p>Nor does mine.</p>
<p>But your counselor will have to guess your rank to the nearest decile.</p>
<p>you have to figure though, that of the half that arent 1 or 2, you have athletes, legacies, and big donors. That doesnt leave a lot of space for others</p>
<p>collegecanwait, I do somewhat agree with you. I'm not sure how unusual I am but I am as white as can be and I was ranked 19/702. :)</p>
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[quote]
I moved between my 10-11th grade year and it really messed up my class ranking. I was wondering if Stanford places alot of emphasis in class rank as opposed to SATs and grades. I'm trying to decide wether to do SCEA stanford or ED upenn.
[/quote]
Don't worry too much about it. I've just attended Stanford's college admission seminar yesterday, and the admissions officer has repeatedly emphasized that they will consider your application based on the context of your situation. They will understand a change in class rank if you have moved to a different school during the middle of your secondary schooling. In fact, Stanford's application has a specific written portion where you can clarify problems such as moving between your 10th and 11th grade.</p>
<p>Stanford might not care about exact rank as much as other schools like Brown and Penn, but keep in mind that 45% of their admitted class are in the top 1-2%.</p>