I had a pretty unusually rough sophomore year and ended up making 3 B’s (my UW is still somehow a 3.87ish, though). I have good ECs – recognition by a major publication for an international writing competition, a lot of public service (working with state gov’t), Best of SNO (x8), an internship with T-20 school student newspaper, exec leadership with a few major school clubs – but I’m worried that my class rank will totally screw over all the effort I’ve put into “high school” (just in general). Assuming that I make all A+'s for the rest of junior year (which I’m pretty on track for), and make a high ACT score (33+ – no NMSF or anything), do I still have decent chances of getting into a T-20 school (top choices are Northwestern and Georgetown)?
*Note: I am still in Top 20% for sure, not sure if I’m in T10%, but my high school is super competitive so my class rank is probably not great.
Most colleges don’t take class rank into account as a major factor. However, how hard your classes are important - so take classes you’d enjoy but are also of high rigor.
Also, if your school is highly competitive than the colleges will still be impressed by your GPA - this is why tank doesn’t matter; because the student matters more.
Note that your personal essays will give you a chance to explain any, let’s say, flukes on your record. In fact, a number of universities give you a chance to explain just that. I experienced a rough patch (only during my sophomore year), and my ending GPA was a 4.2. A T-20 university that I applied to sent a four-part prompt giving me the chance to explain what happened, how I pulled through, and what I changed after (to ensure the likelihood of more flukes happening were controlled or less likely). Good luck!
@myaatmi Hey! Thank you for letting me know about the explanation prompts. I’m not sure how major my particular rough patch sophomore year was – it wasn’t divorce, death, or major illness, so I don’t know if it would count. In my personal opinion, it affected my grades, but most of the issue was largely temporary separation between family members as a parent had to go to another country for a bit, as well as some of the problems that came with that. I want to refrain from mentioning any resulting anxiety or whatnot because I believe it will count against me on the application process. What exactly do the prompts ask?
Ah, I wish I remembered exactly! I’m a sophomore in college now and I just tried to access them, but I didn’t write them in another document. From what I remember, they were just asking for clarity on a few of the things in one of my personal essays and they sent it near the end of January/beginning of February. For your case, or any, I would recommend explaining it because every university won’t pry or be as open to listen.
Update: to correct some information I posted, I ended up winning 4BSNO awards (not 8! as a senior) and did not end up adding those specific details from earlier ^ to my application. I also did not include the internship I did on the activities section (described it under some different circumstances on another thread for identification reasons). Ultimately put only what you think you value about your HS experience.