<p>Our kids’ school didn’t rank, but they did name val and sal graduates. So that was a way to prove out “top standing” if it was deemed very important by parents and/or students. In admissions, though, top colleges are really trying to find students who are intellectual and interesting. They are aching for these students – ticket punching with the most APs or no A-s isn’t the most attractive thing to them. My D2 was neither val nor sal (in fact, uw GPA was 3.7), and she got in everyplace she applied – including U of Chicago, Swarthmore, Harvey Mudd, and also several other schools with very good merit aid. She had better results than the sal or val of her class. I think parents and students worry WAY too much about class rank, and not nearly enough about following a creative, interesting path with their interests and ECsl. The schools have a GPA and test score bar to see if you can handle the work, but then it is all about what else you bring to the table.</p>