I’m wondering to what extent class rank is used as an admission filter at top schools. Here’s the background. My daughter, currently a junior in an IB diploma program, has a 4.0 unweighted GPA. She has taken the most difficult possible schedule offered by her school–that is, in addition to her mandatory IB and pre-IB classes, each of her (few) electives have been AP classes. Yet her class ranking is not #1–she is, in fact, currently #10.
How is such a thing possible, you ask? It has to do with classes taken off-campus. About a dozen of her (ultra-competitive) classmates have taken, in addition to their normal schedule, on-line AP classes, on-line college classes, or summer classes at the local community college, all of which are over-weighted, pushing their weighted GPA up a couple of hundredths of a point. She has not, because, you know, there’s more to life. In addition, some middle school classes count toward high school credit, and are typically not weighted, so they can bring down your GPA even if you received straight A’s in middle school, as my daughter did. I suspect that my daughter has more such classes than other students in her class–the prime culprits were a full-year computer class she took in 8th grade, and an on-line intro to French class (after her first semester freshman year, she was ranked around #30 in her class, which made us realize what had happened).
I’ll be honest; it’s really, really unlikely that she will complete her high school career with a 4.0 unweighted average. She’s likely to get a B this semester, and will probably get one or two more before she graduates. So, she could finish with around a 3.90-3.98, with a class rank that could be #30-40 for all we know. [There are around 650 kids in her class, but only around 110 are IB and some unknown number are in a different magnet program]
Could that hold her back from getting into a school like Brown or Williams? Has anyone else been in that situation? Her school does not use Naviance, so we feel like we’re flying blind, as it were.
More than half of all US high schools do not use a cardinal or ordinal rank.Unless there is a scholarship for the # 1 ranked student, ranking # 1 vs. #10 vs #30 in a class of 650 will make little to no difference. Grades, particularly when they are in the 4.0 region, are important, but far from the only key metric. Good luck.
The common data set published for Brown last year shows that only 25% of incoming freshmen provided their class rank. Of those 25%, 94% of them were in the top 10%.
If it’s an option, I’d recommend omitting the class rank.
Class rank is considered “Very Important” at Brown and Williams. However, class rank is just one of “very important” factors they consider in their holistic admissions policies. For example, they also consider “Talent/Ability” to be equally as important as class rank along with academic “Rigor,” “GPA,” “Standardized test scores,” and so on. My advise to you is to have your daughter do her best – since that’s the only thing you and your daughter have a control on – and forget the results, which you and your daughter have absolutely no control over.
Most high schools no longer provide rankings as everyone is aware that grade whores (please excuse my vulgarity…but students who game the gpa opportunities) abound. What is of objective importance is that the counselor can check the box that a student took the most rigorous coursework…and then that their test scores validate the grades. After that, all selective schools are ultimately looking for students who are likely to be impactful contributors to their campus. This is the reality of which many of these top academic performers are unaware…and why they often do poorly in very selective college admissions (outside of public flagships).
…by the way, all three of my kids were accepted to H/Y/P with B’s on their transcripts. No hooks. They had excellent academic credentials (but not the top!) but more importantly, provided evidence within their applications of their character and impact in their outside activities. A B (or 2) will not preclude your child from selective college admissions!
Oh, I should add that my son was in a somewhat similar situation. At his high school, too, there were ultra competitive students who were intensely vying for the top class rank positions. When my then sophomore son first mentioned to me of his desire to “go for” the valedictorian honor, I specifically told him not to play that game and simply concentrate on finishing top 10% in his class while continuing to develop his extracurricular activities, particularly his talent in music. Other than taking the max IB courses along with a few AP, he did not take any courses at local colleges.
He graduated 6/350 and yes, he did get a couple B’s along the way. My advise was critical in keeping him from the unnecessary added on stress on top of all the rest of stresses that typical high school students are experiencing. Williams was one of the seven colleges he was admitted to.
To “Talent/Ability” I would add the oft-argued, euphemised rosy flush of health which is probably in her cheeks, spark of joy in her eyes and ebullience in her voice when she interviews and speaks of the things which excite, engage and fulfill her.
Thanks to everyone. Your comments are very helpful and incredibly encouraging. To respond to one thing TiggerDad said in passing, though: in one sense, this IS something we have some control over; there would be time for her to take college classes over the summer if it would make any sort of difference. But you’ve all convinced me it isn’t necessary, thank goodness. She isn’t competitive with others, just driven to do her best, and I sense she is feeling some stress that her upcoming-and-unavoidable B will ruin her years of hard work, despite many other positives in her record. I’ll pass your thoughtful comments on to her, and I know she’ll find them reassuring, too.
I think the weight of class rank depends on the school.
e.g. For the University of Texas at Austin, class rank is “the” most important thing.
Its more important than GPA, course rigor etc.
So, I don’t think there is a single answer to OP’s question.
So my daughter’s high school no longer includes any courses taken outside of the high school (aside from dual enrollment) to appear on the HS transcript. The district decided it was not fair to students who can not afford to take these courses - so the GPA/rank playing field is ostensibly leveled. Kudos to them although it is only one piece in this crazy puzzle.
My daughter (HS senior) has been taking what she wants to take - and has managed to gain the #1 ranking (weighted) in her class but she might lose it because she is taking fewer HS courses senior year than some of the other highly-ranked students. She is taking a programming course at the local CC because the HS didn’t offer what she wanted - and so be it if it affects her final ranking.
Just like with SAT scores, “perfect”/#1 is great but top 5-10% is realistic and the differences among those students are truly minute and immeasurable - and sometimes are the result of one quiz on one day when the student was too busy doing something they are passionate about instead of studying!
She visited Williams recently and fell in love, and has legacy status at Brown. Those will probably be her top choices, but we’re projecting her test scores, so we’ll have to see. At any rate, your experiences were terrific to hear about. She’s our oldest child, so the first to go through this, if it wasn’t immediately obvious. The process (and pressure) is waaaaay different from when I was a student!
Some schools will allow a transcript to be customized (omit rank, test scores,etc); others won’t. And while one potentially has control over which teachers write recs (and even that’s not a given if you ask too late), you certainly have no control over what they write.
As one data point (although I often say the plural of anecdote is not data), I did not have a 4.0 HS GPA, was not ranked #1 (the HS does not rank, but did report the highest GPA, which was not mine), and took no on-line classes or summer classes; my summers were quite full of productive non-academic ventures. I did quite well in the admissions lottery.
At least your daughter has you to somewhat guide her; skiparents were clueless with me, and only a bit better with my brother. Good luck.
OP, the same rank race games were played at the school my girls attended but they refused to participate which I was very happy about. Their class size was large like yours and they graduated in the top 20 but not top ten students. They had great results in admissions. Good luck to your son.
Folks, it would be far more enlightening to not go by the CDS. “Not important” means different things to different colleges. Labeling something “Very Important” doesn’t mean it trumps anything just “Important.”
You can bet top colleges read interview reports and digest them.
Where rank can matter (actual or implied) is when other top kids from your hs or another in the local area, are applying, when there’s a toss-up. It’s somewhat rare to truly have two equal candidates, when you consider the holistic.
Most hs don’t have rank on the transcript. But the GC is asked to indicate it on the counselor report, if they do report.
As for, “everything” being in your control, two more that aren’t are the actual quality of an LoR and the quality of other applicants’ apps/supps. You can practice for better scores, sure. But your record, academic and other, reflects your choices during the 3.5 years of hs and that, in turn, reflects one’s thinking. As does how you fill out the app and supp.
So try to get an idea of what a target wants to see in you, the whole. For Brown, even with legacy, she’d better understand the Open Curriculum.
OP - my daughter’s HS had the same “issues”. My daughter was still comfortably top 10% (percentiles is all her school would report unless you were #1 or 2), but her engineering classes were unweighted which definitely dropped her in the rankings. That said, she had better college outcomes than many higher ranked students. Definitely don’t worry about this!
Good luck.