So I’m planning on applying to Cornell, Duke, U Penn, and Johns Hopkins (as my reaches, obvi), and I just found out today I’m NOT in the top 10% of my class Dx.
I have a 4.74 weighted gpa, I’m ranked 34 out of 315, which computes to 10.8% (UGH SO CLOSE!).
Anyway, as you can tell my school’s really competitive and getting into the top 10% is HARD. I know these schools really want to see people in the top 10%, but do you think I would still have a good chance once they see how difficult my school is and how close i was to being in the top? i plan on putting my rank exactly on the common app (as 34/315) so they can compute it and see how close i was.
will i be ok?!?!
This is where your GC’s letter of rec comes in. He or she evaluates the rigor of your transcript compared to what the school offers and to the transcripts of others in your class. It also includes a profile of your school. This enables a college to see that you go to a competitive high school, hopefully took a very rigorous course load, and are close enough to the top to be an attractive applicant.
And go to the Common Data Set for each school and check what percentage of admitted students are in the top 10% of the class (Section C). At Cornell, it’s 87% of the class (not 100%): https://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000554.pdf Admittedly, those not in the top 10% have something to offer that Cornell wants. But only you know what else your application contains that might put you over the top.
This is why so many schools are eliminating class rank, by the way. It give arbitrary advantage to someone with a less rigorous transcript (no honors classes for example, who got all As).
Does your school use Naviance? Look at that data. Are your GCs familiar with those schools? Ask their opinion.