<p>mncollege, our high school weights AP and Honors courses too (the same 5% boost), but some students with no AP courses with good grades can still get into the top 10% rank if their grades are stellar. The merit scholarships that my sons were offered (at different schools), did not mention rank as a criteria.</p>
<p>My high school did not give any academic awards at all, and it didn’t rank. In a class of 80 - 6 went to Harvard, 4 to Yale and 2 to Princeton. Clearly it wasn’t a big deal. :)</p>