Hello all,
I currently attend the #1 high school and Michigan, so obviously the caliber of students is at a much higher level than usual. My GPA Is 3.97 unweighted, yet I am still ranked 15th, which places me at around the top 13%. I’ve -also taken 16+ honors courses and the full IB curriculum. I have been thinking of not returning to this school next fall, as I could receive a transcript from my home school and likely be within the top 5 students of about 600. (Even the people who have been kicked from my current school return to their home schools and been within the top 10 students, who were near the bottom at this school.) Would a college rather see me stay and have a lower class rank/GPA or leave and have a higher class rank/GPA?
Thank you!
P.S. I’m going to be applying to UC Berkeley, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Brown, U of M
My personal opinion is that you are overthinking this. If you like your current school the fact that you have a 3.97 at a rigorous school will be looked upon very favorably. The little you might possibly gain in GPA and rank going to a less rigorous school isn’t worth the potential downsides and disruption to your life.
If you don’t want to return to your present school for other reasons then it’s a different story but there’s little, if anything, to be gained from an admissions standpoint.
Those are great schools, and they all will prefer you to take what is the most challenging courses and do well at them - which is what you are doing at your current school.
They all thoroughly understand the school profile and will not hold your class rank against you - it may actually harm you if you move to your home district school - they will correctly wonder why you left, and it might suggest that you felt you couldn’t do as well in that more challenging environment.
I don’t want to suggest that you don’t have a great chance getting accepted to those schools, but please include safeties.
Bump
Seriously thinking of switching schools, as my top choice is Brown, which seems to place a particular emphasis on class rank, as 98.1% of the accepted class of 2018 was in the top 10% of their high school class. I’m really stressed out about this. Thanks for the help!
What are your standardized test scores?
If your school really is the top school in the state, your admissions counselor should be familiar with its intensity. Dropping out of it your senior year (I assume) would look kind of suspicious; it would probably be something to address on your application. And you also have to consider the upheaval it could cause with your extracurriculars and social life.
I think it’s a bad idea. You’re sacrificing a rigorous learning experience for something like three percentage points. I don’t think that would show you as being prepared for a school like Brown, where learning is supposed to trump the grades.
Pretty sure the top colleges pay more attention to the top high schools. I would be focusing on extracurriculars, as it sounds like your grades are in the ballpark and if you’re school really is that good then adcoms will likely look closer at your application.
top 10% of those schools reporting rank- the majority of schools don’t.
What are your test scores?
I hope those are not the only universities you plan on applying to?
Even if you have the academics and UMich is an academic safety, whenever there’s a low acceptance rate (lower than 25-30% - and, at 31%, Umich is very close to being an automatic reach) there’s a risk, even for stellar students such as yourself. This has nothing to do with class rank BTW.
Add one university where you have automatic admission for your stats (preferably one with a strong Honors College such as Pitt or UAlabama) and your list is good. 
Note:
UCB may not be possible due to 1° new cap on OOS&international students and 2° cost (55K/year, no FA)
If you are in the #1 school in Michigan, then colleges are aware how awesome your school is. I am surprised that your school ranks…often these schools do not.
Class rank doesn’t matter nearly as much as you’d think. You go to a highly regarding school, and you’ve maintained a high gpa even given your challenging course load. Transferring to a different high school so late in your career will hurt you more than help, because you should be focused on your college applications rather than adapting to a brand new high school.
OP: I know your school. My DD graduated there and I recruit there for my alma mater. (Is AHS your possible desination?) The school you attend does get a few admits into top schools. Your gaming it to “appear” to be higher ranked won’t be lost on your application readers. They’ll clearly see you attended XX and switched. I’d advise you NOT to switch out. Finish strong, kill your IBs and be content in your results.
If you’re aware of your forebears, you’ll understand that even amongst the highest ranked students, not all got accepts into the suite of schools you’re targeting (except for U-M)
Thank you for all the help! I have decided to stay, but, do you think, if possible, I should try to get my class rank removed from my transcript?
Ask your counselor where students of similar class rank have been accepted over the past 5 years
The school uses naviance. Your transcript is static in format – you can’t request rank or no rank.