Rank at a very competitive high school? Does it matter?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi, I've heard different responses when it comes to the importance of class rank in the college admissions process. I attend a very prestigious public magnet school, which has previously been ranked #3 by the Washington Post and US News. I just transferred to this school from a far less prestigious school that also had the IB program and I just found out a couple days ago that my rank here is currently 3. I am a sophomore so this rank will almost inevitably change as my high school years progress, and probably drop. I got one B last quarter in AP Calculus AB (unfortunately I have a horrendous teacher, but I am trying my absolute to teach myself). I know of others that have gotten straight A's still and are taking 6 APs while I am taking 5 at the moment. My question is, does rank really matter that much at such a competitive school as mine? The top 15 are all within a hundredth of a point from one another, or so I've heard and the valedictorian has a 5.8 HPA right now (with the rest not far behind). </p>

<p>So, how much would rank matter in this case?</p>

2

<p>For top college feeder schools rank matters little. For some colleges rank matters a great deal (U Texas). It all depends.</p>

3

<p>Check section C7 of the Common Data Set for each school and it will show you whether class rank is important and to what degree. Remember that the most selective schools who are most likely to consider class rank are also familiar with the competitiveness of your high school. Even in a not-prestigious public HS, the GPA is calculated out to three decimal places so that they can determine rank.
Just focus on taking the most challenging courses that you handle and doing your best.</p>