<p>I have good grades, rigor, essays, test scores, etc., but I’m ranked as 31/291 in a nationally-ranked, Midwestern public school. My question is, should I even bother applying to any Ivies? In their stats, I see that Brown accepts 8% or so who are out of the top-10%, but I tend to think that those slots are reserved for children of alumni and athletes. I’m good, but I’m not phenomenal, and I’m afraid that my class rank will prove to be the thing that gets me cut. Does anybody know how much admissions officers actually use class rank in determining admissions? Any advice or experiences would be much appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>It depends on your school. See what luck other students in situations like yours have had in the past. This would be much more useful than using only the overall tables.</p>
<p>Most of the valedictorians who apply here are rejected. Yet, in my large public school (which generally sends a 5 or so people to top schools) I believe both I and someone ranked at least 10 people behind me got in my year. If people from last year’s class ranked 20th+ got into top schools, it’s probably worth it to try. And depending on circumstances, it may be worth it to try regardless of rank.</p>
<p>While most valedictorians do get denied, their chance of getting in is significantly higher than lower ranked students.</p>
<p>According to [Brown</a> Admission: Facts & Figures](<a href=“Undergraduate Admission | Brown University”>Undergraduate Admission | Brown University)</p>
<p>Rank, number apply, number accepted, percent accepted, enrolled
Valedictorian 1,507, 385, 26%, 155
Salutatorian 692, 133, 19%, 59
Top 10% 7,708, 1,045, 14%, 505
2nd Tenth and below 2,394, 47, 2%, 40
Number attending schools that do not provide class rank 14,886, 1,706, 11%, 973</p>
<p>My main question concerning those statistics is: were 98% rejected BECAUSE they weren’t top ten, or did that just happen to correspond with other factors?</p>
<p>“Correlation does not imply causality” In short, we have no way of knowing based on the information available to us. Chances are, their class rank (i.e. their transcript) was relevant in the decision, but there are other factors considered.</p>
<p>Wow, I already wrote all my essays for Brown because I thought I stood more a chance, since college board claims that 8% of the student body is below the top 10%. [College</a> Search - Brown University - At a Glance](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>
<p>Now there’s pretty much no chance :-/</p>
<p>I don’t want to dash people’s dreams here, but with a 9% acceptance rate and applications that are coming from amazing kids – yes, it is very difficult to be accepted if you are not in the top 10%. It’s hard to get in if you aren’t ranked in the top 5%. There are exceptions, of course: Athletes, uber-wealthy, kids from magnet schools like Stuyvesant, Intel winners, etc.</p>