Hello! Question about class rank on the Common App. I know for certain that I am ranked first (weighted) and am the only person who holds that spot at my school, so it would really help my case with selective schools. However, my school doesn’t rank, so my transcript will not list my rank. Is it bad for me to self-report myself as ranked first in the part of the Common App that asks that? If admissions followed up on it with my counselor, it would be true. But is that considered bad etiquette to go against school’s policy? If so that sucks bc it would really help my application.
Don’t report it, because colleges will know there’s no way for you to verify it. This is the kind of thing that your guidance counselor will note in their letter – because even though there’s no official ranking, there’s an unofficial one that the counselor will know about and make clear.
Also – your ranking would obviously help your application, but it’s not make-or-break. Most schools across the country don’t rank, so it’s not as if this is a consistent way to compare high-achieving students across the board. And plenty of valedictorians get rejected from extremely selective schools. This is not to discourage you – just to make clear that your ranking (if it were official) might not be weighted as heavily as you think, which is even less reason to self-report. Leave it to your counselor.
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Hmmm - you’re not first because of this.
Trust that your counselor or teacher will come through for you.
But for you to say that - an AO might scratch their head - it can’t be proven and it’s dangerous to say that when that counselor report will dispute it with - we don’t rank.
Agree, don’t report.
You may want to ask your guidance counselor if he/she would feel comfortable noting your rank in his/her LOR but I wouldn’t push it. It will not make or break your application.
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Don’t self-report your rank if your school doesn’t rank. It’s never a good idea to go against the school report. It’s not just bad etiquette, it could actually hurt your application.
If you are that far and away the #1 student in your school, I would trust that your teacher and counselor LORs are indicative of that. Don’t sweat it.
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Thanks, everyone. I go to an underfunded public school and we unfortunately have a terrible interim counselor who has made no effort to get to know anyone and is in some cases actually forgetting to upload recs and transcripts for early decision people, so I can’t trust her to get the job done. She will almost certainly write a generic rec that doesn’t help me 
So frustrating, because I’ve seen the internal list and I am actually quite solidly number one with some distance to number two, and it sounds like I might not end up getting credit for it. Oh well.
Many schools won’t give ‘credit’ for being a val, but some will. I don’t see anything wrong with communicating your class rank. If you don’t want to do it in the class rank section, put something in addt’l info that says something like ‘ranked #1 in class thru 6 semesters’.
Have you considered giving your counselor a brag sheet, with things you would like her to include in her LoR? My guess is she has way more students than she can handle and is just learning her job, so best to give her some grace. Colleges will request LoRs and transcripts from her (in most instances) if they are late, so I wouldn’t worry much about that (unless you applied to the schools with strict materials deadlines, then you have to help her understand how that works).
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Thanks for the response! I did give her the brag sheet, but she is proving really incompetent, so just don’t know what to expect from her. She doesn’t respond to emails and has really limited office hours, which are always booked immediately. Such a mess. I hope admissions officers can tell the difference between a counselor letter that is lukewarm bc the student isn’t great vs. it being lukewarm simply bc the counselor doesn’t know the kid. It is a smallish school, though, so she really should know the kids. Ugh.
They can.
Many students are in schools where they can’t get any counselor LoR, even a lukewarm one. I’m not trying to minimize the stress of your situation, I know it’s a stressful time. Do be persistent for the things you need from her, for example, uploading materials to schools that need them in a timely manner. If a school doesn’t require an LoR, I wouldn’t worry about that and would let that go.
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I honestly don’t think being val with a weighted GPA would be a meaningful bump in your application. Every HS weights courses differently (and many don’t use a weighted GPA at all). Admissions officers will see your transcript and understand your course rigor and academic achievements.
College AOs also know than many guidance counselors are overwhelmed and a generic LOR is not unusual.
Focus on what IS in your control (a good life lesson). Write great essays, get strong teacher LORs, and apply to a range of schools that appear affordable and that you would be hapoy to attend.
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I personally think it’s an issue to write down “ranked #1” when the school explicitly states that they don’t rank on their school report.
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Thanks for your understanding and advice 
Thank you. I do have two really strong teacher recs–people who I know well personally and academically–so hopefully that makes up for it.
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Yes, you said that already. We will have to agree to disagree.
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I’m sorry to hear that. Life can be frustrating (trust me, I know), but sometimes we have to work with what we have. Colleges understand that not every school has a great counselor who will write a personable rec. It sounds like you’ve done everything in your control, and you’re (clearly) an outstanding and motivated student. Hopefully that speaks in the app. Also, there’s a good shot one of your teachers said something along the lines of “best student I’ve had,” so there’s that to be hopeful for. Best of luck 
If you really think that the counselor won’t come through for you, even with a brag sheet, then you might ask one of your recommenders to say something in their letter about your high academic performance relative to others at the school (a teacher is not in a position, probably, to say definitively that you are number 1 but could speak to your performance relative to other students). Also, you could get an extra teacher recommendation to counterbalance the counselor’s lackluster one. A lot of schools (almost every college my daughter applied to last year, for instance) will accept an extra letter or even two beyond the required number, so you could take advantage of that opportunity to have more people speaking to your strengths.
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That’s actually a great idea, thank you! I know one teacher almost at a friend level and can be kind of open with her about what I need her to say in the letter (not that she will lie for me lol!).
Each HS sends a school profile with every transcript with information such as average GPA, levels of courses offered etc. So the OPs transcript will be read in the proper context and her strong performance and rigor should be clear.
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That sounds like a good plan.
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This is what I’m saying. Outstanding academic performance should hopefully be able to speak for itself. Colleges look for context – they’re not trying to cross out promising kids because of their school’s situation.
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