<p>Hey guys I'm just a sophomore and I'm heading into junior year. Right now my class rank is in the 10% which I is pretty bad. I was totally lost my freshman year and my grades were so bad (flat Bs). I tried so hard my sophomore year and started taking my grades very seriously. I started making a lot of 98's and above after that. </p>
<p>I'm trying to get into the BME program at Johns Hopkins. I am very accomplished in my EC and SAT(2350). Our school doesn't rank anyone after the 10%. So I have two options: </p>
<ul>
<li>I can either get out of the 10% because it does hurt you in college admissions ( my school has the option N/A.)I can<br></li>
</ul>
<p>OR</p>
<ul>
<li>I can try me best and hopefully get into the 5% at school which I'm hoping should help??</li>
</ul>
<p>What are your thoughts?? Can I explain to the admission officers that I didn't mean to screw up my freshman year and get bad grades. After that I took them very seriously because I started get A+++. Please I really want to get into Johns Hopkins it was my dream from childhood. Give me feedback please!</p>
<p>10% isn’t bad, but yes, rank is important. </p>
<p>Colleges use that to see where you stand amongst your peers since every school is different and it’s hard to compare students from very different schools. For example, student A has a 4.0 UW GPA but is in the top 10% while student B has a 3.8 UW GPA and is in the top 1%. You can just look at their GPAs and decide that student A is the stronger student, but that wouldn’t be fair; if 10% of the class has a 4.0, there might be quite a bit of grade inflation or the classes might be more lenient with giving out grades. Regardless of the reason, student A may not have “worked” as hard for that 4.0, while student B might have worked his butt off for that 3.8, considering very few students in his class have that GPA.</p>
<p>With your SAT scores and continued grade improvement, I would not worry too much about your class rank. Many colleges do not even consider the freshman year in their calculations. It is much better to improve your grades, then to backslide in later years. As I am sure you have heard, Junior year is the most important year admissions. </p>
<p>You can even use your essay to write about what motivated you to focus on your education and improve your grades. Johns Hopkins will consider more then your class rank in their decision. A great essay can really help you with their Admissions process.</p>
<p>Rank is mostly use for grade validation. Considering your high SAT score, and the fact that you are probably going to do well on your AP tests/SAT subject tests considering your 98s, don’t worry about your rank. Keep up the hard work, and I suggest writing one of your college essays about what gave you the inspiration to turn around after freshman year. </p>
<p>Rank is subjective based on the school you go to. Your SAT and AP test scores are good indications at your academic abilities. 10% isn’t bad. There are more things that factor into admission that just rank. If you have a passion for what you do and display it well in essays, you have a solid chance in getting into your dream college. </p>