how important is it to be in the top 10%

Hi, during my 4 years of high school i have been under the impression that our school doesn’t rank our class because when we get our official transcripts at the end of the year it says “rank- not available/unranked.” I had a pretty rough freshman year moving here from out of town and had a 3.8 and i have improved it to where it is now at 4.2. I went to my counselor and asked for the recommendation form she has so she can easily fill out school reports and letters of rec, and on that sheet it said rank- 43/402 (10.7%)… i was almost in shock that a 4.2 was ranked that low, but i realized how much grade inflation goes on at our school because of kids taking advantage of easy honors classes freshman and sophomore year (these honors classes are really not any harder than our regular classes and they will no longer be weighted for the class of 2006). I wasn’t allowed to be in these honors classes in 9th grade because i was transferring from out of district and didnt have test scores to get me into these classes, i didnt think it was that big of deal at the time, so i didnt argue it.

Will this hurt me a lot applying to schools like notre dame and boston college (notre dame has 83% of their kids in the top 10%)? and i dont want to send an ‘excuse’ of not being in the top 10%, but i do believe it is kind of unfair for kids who took honors geometry and honors english 9 grade to have higher GPA’s than me soley because of those classes (which i was not allowed in).

by the way i have a sat of 1460 (800 math, 660 verbal) and am pending my SAT 2 results (november)

thanks

<p>I think you answered your own question. If 83% of kids are in the top 10%, you will have to be extraordinary in some other way to be in the 17% that isn't. And at Notre Dame, I think the fair assumption is that most who are not are athletes! Give it a try, but have backups!</p>

<p>on your apps, attach a sheet written by your GC explaining your circumstances. have a meeting with her and explain everything that you've been through, don't expect her to remember, and make sure she understands what you want her to write. colleges will understand that things have affected you and cut you slack for that.</p>

<p>thanks katie and bobby.
Bobby, i worded my question poorly, i meant to ask: will colleges realize that i probably deserve to be in the 10%, i am pretty close to begin with anyways. Our school is very competitive at the top, we annualy have kids goin off to yale and harvard and stanford. I wish i knew more about the college process my first 2 years of HS, but theres nothin i can do about it..oh well</p>

<p>Andrew, here's how to look at it. It is very important to colleges that their selectivity rating keeps going up. Or at least that it doesn't go down. So chances are at a school like Notre Dame, which is on the upswing, this year they'll have an even higher % in the top 10%. Their job isn't to figure out whether you should have been in the top decile, it's to determine if you are one of the worthy exceptions. They have legacies, athletes, URMs and connected kids who get first dibs on not being in the top 10%. Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to make them see that you're a worthy exception. So go for it!</p>

<p>alright i understand what you're sayin, i'll do my best and hopefully my 1460 sat which is 100 points above their average will help me out a bit. I applied Early Action already (when i was unaware of my rank) but figured with a 1460 and a 4.2 GPA the worst that could happen is i get deferred. I told them that ND was by far my number one choice and i would go there for sure if i was admitted</p>

<p>thanks for the help</p>

<p>Andrew:</p>

<p>As long as your grade trends are upward from your first year, then you should not be too concerned. I would suggest, however, that you apply to a few LACs which use a more holistic approach to each person. </p>

<p>Here are some of the schools that look at the applicant in total, and some other options for universities:</p>

<p>College of the Holy Cross
Trinity C
Grinnell
Trinity U
Vassar
Bates
Hamilton
Washington & Lee
URochester
Connecticut C
Bard
Beloit
Lawrence U
Skidmore
DePauw
Denison
Furman
Whitman
Rhodes
Case Western
University of the South
Gettysburg
Tulane
UWisconsin-Madison
UWashington
Vanderbilt</p>

<p>Hope this is of use to you. Good luck with your apps.</p>

<p>thanks blainko! I am in kind of a nice situation that i really only need to apply to "reaches" because i have double legacy at USC and with my grades and SAT score, i am nearly 100% sure they will not deny me. So i'll probably apply to 1 safety, USC, and then 5 or 6 reaches, 2 of them being Notre Dame an BC... so i'll research some of those colleges on your list, thanks for the help</p>

<p>No problem.</p>

<p>Good luck with the college search. Let me know how it turns out.</p>

<p>Andrew, I have a similar situation to you that has affected my grades (however family problems, not moving). I have a 3.9 GPA and I am ranked 100/400. Top 10% is from 4.6-4.9</p>