<p>I had no clue my son's ranks until I had to get his transcript sent in. I have no idea if this is decent or bad, and how much does this matter in the scheme of things?</p>
<h1>34 out of 200 and ranked top quarter</h1>
<p>According to the CollegeBoard website for JMU and their website reports that they look more at your GPA,Course load and standardized test scores. They say however that class rank is just considered and as far as 34/200, Id say thats a great class rank being top quarter.</p>
<p>eman is right. They look more at the GPA/SATs, etc. than class rank because your rank can vary depending on how competitive your class is. I would say in the top quarter is perfectly fine.</p>
<p>Class rank further “explains” your GPA. It’s not the full story, but it helps. </p>
<p>It’s hard to compare two kids with perfect 4.0s at two different schools. One grades much more harshly, one might offer more APs then the other. So…“rank” helps tell a bit more of the story. The admissions officer still needs to look at the school prospectus. Where a student falls, with a specific GPA, inside the school’s rank, tells much about a school’s rigor and grading. Let’s say a high scoring SAT student is only top 10% at one school (because it’s very competitive, large, rigorous). That same student would be top 1% at another school. (This was the case with my D when she moved schools).</p>