I have the option to omit my class rank on my transcript when sent to colleges. However, the counselor will note that I requested my class rank not be reported. My GPA is very high but my class rank is only decent as a result of the rigor of my school. I believe everything else on my app is great. I plan on applying to top tier schools. Would it be worth it to omit it? Would it raise any “red flags?”
EDIT I am not in the top 10%
I think that you shouldn’t because colleges will understand. They will look at the class size. As long as you are getting good grades, volunteering, and have a good personal statement then you are set to go. Colleges like to look at the whole person and not just grades. I know some students that were in the Top 10 in my school that weren’t accepted in University of Davis while some that were rank 30 something that got accepted.
Source: Personal Observation
Yes, particularly when your GC states
What do you think colleges would think of that?
They’ll think that your class rank is abysmal, I’m not an admissions officer, but I’d assume you must be at least in the bottom 50% if not lower. So if for example you’re actually in the 15-25% range, I’d rather see that then “chose not to show rank.” Unless your GC’s school report includes very little information about GPA distributions at your school, they’ll be able to get a rough idea of your rank anyway.
On the flip side, “proportion of kids who ranked in the top 10% of their class” is a factor in the US News rankings. If a college was concerned about maintaining or improving their ranking, they may prefer to not have a student report a 14% or a 26% rank, if they’re otherwise a good fit for the university.
Also, check the common data sets to see if rank even matters to the schools you’re interested in. I just checked Harvard’s, for example, and class rank is not considered.
^Fair point. Don’t know if USNWR treats “student chooses to withhold rank” differently from “school refuses to assign rank” though.
Unless you are the only one from your HS applying to that college, the adcom may still match you up with the class rank at your school.
I have a 3.97 GPA. I don’t think they’re going to assume I am in the bottom 50%. I’m actually 2 spots away from the top 10%. However, I have researched that colleges are most interested in admitting as many students that report rank and are in the top 10% of their classes for college rankings, as the above poster said. I’d have to be stellar in every other category for them to admit me, as even Brown only admitted ~40 students (1.9% acceptance rate) of students who reported a rank outside of the top 10%.
Also, how much are they actually concerned with rank beyond that? Ivies receive 30,000+ applications each admission season. Do you really think they’re going to spend time speculating my rank in regards to other students that also applied from my school? They only have so much time.
I think the main concern in admitting students reporting rank is to be in the top 10% for their own rankings (97% of Yale students were, so there is obviously a correlation)
I think they’d rather speculate my ranking to be outside of the top 10% than if I actually report it because that means it also is contained within the USNW rankings. As far as I’m concerned, if you aren’t in the top 10% of your class, then you’re going to find it extremely difficult to get in. The ~40 students at Brown not in the top 10% are likely recruited athletes, too.
mjrube94: the common data set states that they do not factor rank in the admissions process, but they also list that 95% of admits were in the top 10% of their class
If I omitted it, I could state that I am protesting the competition it creates and the focus it takes off of actually learning, or something close to that.
I think the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.
Who knows what they’ll assume if you omit your class rank?
With the GC explicitly saying you are not disclosing your class rank may hurt you more than being 2 spots below the top 10%.
You’re right. They’re probably going to think - wow, his rank must be pretty bad if he opted to hide it.
Yeah, the correlation is between being a top student and being at the top of your class, not being towards the top of your class and getting admitted. They’ll happily go outside the top 10% for a student they want than take a top 10% kid who is unimpressive. Again, I’m not convinced that “student chose to withhold rank” is the same as “school refuses to assign rank.”
Will this attitude be corroborated by your GC, LORs, or any activity you’ve done? Or will it sound like a thinly veiled excuse for hiding your rank that you’re not proud of?
Again, is Brown really going to look at a 3.97 GPA UW/4.22 W and say “wow, his rank must be really bad?”
If I have a 1.9% of getting in if I report my rank, then I likely have a higher chance of getting in by not reporting it. This is all speculation about what they will think.
And yes, this “thinly veiled” excuse will be supported by my heavy involvement in social justice issues.
“I omitted it, I could state that I am protesting the competition it creates and the focus it takes off of actually learning, or something close to that.”
That comment reads off as kinda obnoxious (even holier-than-thou) and not a good justification. Someone including their rank has nothing to do with competition, someone obsessing about it does.
I really think you’re better off leaving it in, or giving an exact rank with an approximate class size.
Yes, they will when they read the comment from the GC that you intentionally hide the class rank. There are schools with 25% GPA 4.0.
“Yes, they will when they read the comment from the GC that you intentionally hide the class rank. There are schools with 25% GPA 4.0.”
Not this school. 3 people have 4.0s. as above posters have been insisting, they will be able to calculate my approximate rank based on other students applying and average GPA info on the school profile.
“That comment reads off as kinda obnoxious (even holier-than-thou) and not a good justification. Someone including their rank has nothing to do with competition, someone obsessing about it does.”
Rank is definitely a competition. If you don’t recognize that, I don’t know what to say.
4.22 WGPA is the challenge. Your classmates took a more rigorous course load.
Actually, no.
My school is extremely small (which is part of the reason I’m not in the top 10%) and we have all taken the same course load. We have all went through the IB Programme with the same number of IB and Honors courses. The only thing we choose is our elective, which is non-honors or IB.
I think you’re still putting too much weight into the rank anyway. My school used to send half the class to the ivy league and still routinely sends over 1/3. If the rest of your app appeals to them, the fact that you’re outside the top 10% is really not going to matter. It’s clear from this thread that you’re not doing it out of protest, you’re doing it because you think your rank is too low. I can’t say for certain whether they will or won’t be able to figure out your rank anyway given that I don’t know exactly what your GC will put on the report. The only thing I know for certain is that your GC will tell them the school does in fact ranks its students and you have opted not to let the college know where you rank.
You asked for our opinion - my opinion is it’s better to be just outside the top 10% then have “student chose to withhold rank” on the application and either leave it up to their imagination and think it’s bad or have them work it out and wonder why you would choose to withhold the rank compounded with the potential to make yourself look dishonest by putting an explanation that (to us) clearly isn’t true and so probably won’t be supported/corroborated elsewhere in your app.
You have stumbled upon why the top high schools don’t rank: it provides no real benefit to the students at the top, who will look good regardless, and only hurts excellent students who now get tainted with poor ranks.
It seems OP is not seeking advise. He just want someone to support his idea. LOL.