<p>Ok, so I go to a pretty competitive public school in the midwest but not prestigious or anything (a school that I doubt Barnard has ever heard of/rarely gotten applicants from though).</p>
<p>There are around 705-715 kids in my grade (it depends on people who move, switch schools, etc).
Am I pretty much done in terms of Barnard if I am not in the top 10%? What would be approximately the rank percentile they would take at a public school like mine (or that their accepted students generally have)? Is top 15% pushing it? Because I think that is around where I might be by deadline.</p>
<p>and I know there are other factors like scores, activities but I’m worried most about this in my application because I know that schools like to have their kids in the top 10% at least, to report for US news surveys/US news rank and such & I’m not in it! =/</p>
<p>Oh, and I’m applying early decision for sure!
Thanks everyone! :)</p>
<p>I can only report a sample of one admitted student:</p>
<p>My d was admitted (regular decision) 4 years ago from a large public HS in Georgia which had (as far as we know) never had anyone admitted into Barnard before (and I seriously doubt if many, if any, applicants had even tried). The class size was similar to yours and she was ranked 7 or 8, I believe, so she was in the top 10 or quite close to it.</p>
<p>Not much help...to your specific question, I am afraid. But I do believe Barnard is mostly interested in your having taken the most rigorous course load possible at your school, in your GPA, and in your being involved in and/or having enthusiasm about something. I doubt seriously that your not being in the top 10% would be anything near a "deal breaker", given the other things I mentioned...</p>
<p>According to the site Barnard</a> College Admissions, 90% of accepted students were in the 1st or second decile of their class...although a number of those were lower-ranked may be from extremely selective/difficult prep schools. It seems like you pretty much have to be in the top 20%, and if you miss 10% but have strong stats in general and good essays (Barnard takes them seriously) you can definitely still be a strong applicant. And being from the midwest may actually help a little as most Barnard applicants are from the east coast. </p>
<p>So, don't worry too much about your rank, especially if it's in the top 20%! Just focus on your essays and your grades next semester.</p>
<p>what makes me nervous is i read on a site that 88% of accepted students were in the top 10%. =/</p>
<p>i guess the best i can do now is to stop worrying because it won't change anything, and get everything together for my application.
thanks for the help guys. :)</p>
<p>What does top 10% mean? Is it only the 10 highest GPAs in the school? How do you use your class rank to determine what percentile you are in? I'm sorry, I know that I should know this but I find it very confusing! Thank you!</p>
<p>its not the top 10 students but top 10%. (although being in the top 10 students is ideal lol). basically you multiply .10 by the number of students in your class. For example, if there are a 700 students in your grade, you multiply that by .10 and get 70. So if your rank is higher than 70 then you are in the top 10%, and if you want to find out if you are in the top 20% just multiply by .20.</p>
<p>Also, a lot of schools don't rank by number so if you're desperate to find out and your school does not rank by number, ask your guidance counselor and she'll probably give you a percentage (top 10%, 20%, 30% or whatever it is).</p>
<p>Yeah, orange41...I was in lala land when I posted what I did about my daughter. She was in a class of around 700 and (now that I recall correctly) was excited about trying to be in the top one percent as she found herself ranked in the top 10 students (not percent). I sort of missed a zero there...good thing I am not having to try to get into college right now. Sheesh!</p>
<p>Sorry if I confused anyone (particularly my own self! :) )</p>
<p>i was not in the top 10% of my high school class. perhaps top 15%, definitely in the top 20%. there was no "ranking" but we all knew who was where, being a class of 76 students.</p>
<p>The statistic about most of Barnard students being the top 10% is not unimportant but should not scare you. I was admitted, and ranked in the top 10% of my class, but it was only 250 kids. Your class is more than twice as large, and managing the top 15% in a pool like that is very impressive. The admissions committee will definitely realize this fact when determining their decision.</p>
<p>I see that you're getting caught up in numbers, which is not a healthy place to be. You'll drive yourself nuts. Barnard looks for intelligent and passionate students, who often happen to be at the top of their class. This does not mean those who aren't at the top don't fit their requirements, or every girl with a 4.0 is a shoe-in for Barnard.</p>
<p>Relax, be confident (this is what Barnard looks for!) and focus on your application as an expression of your self, not just a numbers race.</p>