Switching Schools Junior Year

I currently attend a very well regarded and highly competitive public school. I have a 3.96 unweighted GPA, and a 4.2-4.3 weighted GPA. However, I barely make it into the top 35%. (There have been lawsuits over class rank- it’s a pretty big deal) They have considered dropping it altogether to help with students college admissions, but have yet to make a final decision (If they go through with it, I would be much more likely to stay). I have a friend with the same GPA as me who was salutatorian at a less competitive public school. My current school district also has an odd layout where two high schools (classes of around 750, 9th-10th grade) feed into a “Senior High School” (graduating class of around 1500, 11th-12th grade). So, regardless I will be attending a new school next year. I’m looking at schools like Brown, Barnard, and Wesleyan and I’m nervous a low class rank could prohibit me from getting in. What would you do if you were in my position? My parents are fine with moving as my brother is headed off to college this year and we need to downsize our house anyway. Plus the zoning for the other school I am looking at is practically right down the street.(I also dislike my current school, for various reasons extending beyond class rank)

Some questions to think about:

  1. WIll you have the same opportunities at the new school? What AP classes do they have?

  2. You have a very good GPA. Colleges would look at your GPA and see that it is competitive. Your GC will include a school profile that will show you are competitive. You will take the SAT/ACT and it will hopefully show that your GPA reflects how you do on SAT.

    But in the other school, they will see the same GPA…but at a lesser school. With less competition. So the A’s woudl be easier to get.
    Unless you live in Texas or something, GPA/SAT/ACT and the rigor of your classes is way more important than class rank. Many schools don’t even provide rank anymore.

  3. What are the students at the new school like? Are they as acadmically focused? My DD went to a public magnet and was probably way lower in rank than she would be at her home school…but she was at a school where the kids went to root for the kid in the National Spelling Bee and Lockers were left open because of the Honor code.

  4. What activities/clubs are there? WIll you have any leadership opportunities when you are new?

  5. Friends?

  6. What is the Guidance Counseling like? Are they used to helping you get into top schools or they pushing the State schools because they don’t have time?

I would stay at the competitive school if it has more to offer.

Thanks for responding!! I do live in Texas- which is one of the reasons i was a little worried. However i will most likely be going to a private or out of state school. After thinking for a little while, I’ve decided to stay at the competitive school.

@bopper ^^not totally sure if that’s the correct way to respond??

That is a fine way to respond!

I would have transferred, especially if you’re hoping for private/OOS schools. Indeed, they’re much less likely to know your school and are likely to think your school suffers from grade inflation -as most would if 30% in the class has a 4.0 or near that.
And of course it means you have no instate safety since you’d be shut out of automatic admissions due to the rank-based system in Texas.
That class rank will also impact some scholarship opportunities depending on the universities (as some combine GPA,class rank, and scores).
Since you’ll be changing schools anyway, I’d switch now.
Keep in mind that the law of diminishing g returns applies after 8 APs so your focus should be on doing well while spending time on meaningful EC s.

Will the counselor provide a school profile to the schools I’m applying to? It is very understandable for it to look like my school inflates grades… until you look at the classes available. There are 32 available AP classes, and my school ranks on weighted GPA. Kids go to Harvard, Columbia, UChicago, etc. pretty regularly. We are ranked within the top 25 best public high schools nationally. Will none of this even be considered? I am thinking I could get my ranking up a bit next year, taking 4 APs and 3 honors. Maybe top 20%? Top 10% kids typically have around a 4.5-4.8.

@MYOS1634 There is one public university that does its automatic admissions by GPA rather than rank, with it being Sam Houston State, but that is a much much lower ranking university thank the schools he mentioned