Should I report my class rank?

<p>I am an international student intending to apply to Harvard, Stanford, Yale and UPenn. I was wondering if it would be beneficial to report my class rank in the common app. Although my school does not report class rank for every student, I got the award for being runner-up to the dux this year (2nd overall). This was in a graduating class of about 60 people. Would it be beneficial to report this or not?</p>

<p>Also, I'm torn as to whether I should resit the SAT in January. I got 1850 (660 math 610 reading 580 writing) on my first attempt in October which is obviously below-par, but I had to focus on my other exams for school :( Assuming everything else is good, what are my chances with my scores as of today? Impossible, slim to none, or slim?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>i think your chances are pretty much impossible unless youre hiding some large donor relation or something. report your rank (but i wouldn’t recommend wasting money on those schools)</p>

<p>What if I got my score up to say 2100+ in January. I know I’m capable of it. How do you think my chances would change? I’m not sure how they look at the applications, but I hope they don’t completely disregard the application as soon as they see the test scores, despite what they say.</p>

<p>“despite what they say”? They say the exact opposite - they will not disregard any application because of a single low score. That being said, getting into Harvard or Stanford as an international with only 2100 is pretty difficult. It’s impossible to say anything without any additional info, because admission to top schools depends on so much more than your class rank and your SAT. And btw, I think you should report the rank - it definitely can’t hurt.</p>

<p>I think you need to think about why you want to go to Harvard, Stanford, Yale, or UPenn. It’s obviously not because of location - there’s no consistency there. Is it about prestige? Prestige only gets you so far, and while a Harvard degree may land you your first job, each one after that is up to your attitude and work ethic. There is nothing wrong your scores, and they are far above the national and worldly average. If you love the Ivies because they are Ivies, you are setting yourself for disappointment. If you want to be in a learning environment of passionate, accomplished, genuine people, your possibilities are much brighter! Consider schools such as Colgate, Connecticut College, Villanova, Scripps, Sarah Lawrence… There is never any harm to applying to an Ivy or two. But your scores say nothing about your intelligence as a person, and you may well be wise to focus on schools that will be able to see the shining person you are.</p>

<p>Admissions for international students at these schools is extremely competitive. I wouldn’t worry about your rank at all. You need an SAT of 2200+ to be competitive as an international student at these schools. I would focus on improving your SAT and look for other schools that make more sense for your stats,</p>