@Vicky2019 - thanks for sharing. just watched this [Why Did I Say "Yes" to Speak Here? | Malcolm Gladwell | Google Zeitgeist - YouTube].
very interesting and easy to follow the logic. i do believe there’s truth to this. expanding on @grtd2010’s comment, the big fish in a small pond may be more likely to gain confidence and take more initiative due to its success. the small fish in a big pond may be more likely to be passive or hesitant due to possibly feeling not good enough (as compared to the other fishes in the big pond). most high-caliber/high-achieving students (the big fish) in high school feel that they can continue to be the big fish at the next level. one can see it in their thinking - if i can get into a T20 college, i should be able to get into a T20 medical school. this is important to realize if one wishes to go to medical school where one’s college GPA is a major (though not only) factor in one’s medical school application.
Not all T20s are same and anyone who choses purely based on rank may end up with gap years.
has anyone gotten into bs/md’s as a test-optional student (for example: bu smed, brown plme etc.)? I know that some bs/md’s have gone TO but i just wanted to know if it is plausible to apply to bs/md’s as a test optional?
@plantar Thank you for sharing your S’s stats+perspectives.
Congratulations on CASE PPSP.
— del
Everything is plausible if the program tells you it is a test-optional. Why do you doubt it ? Do your own research and find out which BSMD programs are test-optional.
@OldSchoolMD - Thanks for sharing your thoughts. A few weeks before, I had the opportunity to meet & attend a seminar by the authors of the white paper below. They made a convincing argument about the importance of “Fit” based on a variety of data points. This white paper discusses that the popular Ranking systems generally use data that are easy to gather, not necessarily data that are the most meaningful. Based on this white paper, it is important for students to select the college that is the best “Fit” for them to thrive and be successful.
LINK to white paper Executive-Summary-Challenge-Success-White-Paper-on-College-Admissions
@plantar - Congratulations to your child and to the proud family on his acceptance to multiple BSMD programs. Case Western PPSP with scholarships totaling $35,000/yr x 4 years is awesome 
Thanks for sharing stats & perspective on the BSMD results forum!
Folks
We are towards the end of this cycle.
Please share your stats+ perspectives in the results thread.
These are very valuable to future students and parents.
Long time lurker here.
Where is the link to the results thread?
I was having a conversation with a parent recently.
I posed two questions to that parent - Let’s say there are 100 kids are in Harvard. Aren’t there 25 kids who will be in the bottom quartile and 1 kid who will be ranked last? Have many 18-19 year old high achieving kids can cope up with coming last or in the bottom quartile in the class?
Kids who can cope up with such results/ environment will thrive.
Do schools rank students in UG?
I do not know.
Have not heard about it.
Based on certain GPA, they may make it to the Dean’s list.
Then why are you talking about quartiles? 
With different majors and within kids taking different classes I don’t think any University have quartiles except Dean’s List and Latin honors at the time of graduation. Committee letters don’t mention class ranks but individual professor may mention class toppers.
Buddy - a student knows exactly where he or she stands in a class.
They know if they are in the bottom quartile or not.
@dudeperfect
Thank you for sharing your stats + perspectives.
Congratulations on TCNJ/NJMS.
Dean’s list usually will describe the criteria used with GPA cutoff for a certain percentage of the class in the college or school. Here is an example of dean’s list criteria used.
Latin Honors are awarded based on estimation procedures that are intended to yield, e.g. 2% Summa, 5% Magna, and 9% Cum Laude awards for baccalaureate recipients from each school and college.
Here is an example. Each of these honors have different color strings during graduation.
Summa Cum Laude Magna Cum Laude Cum Laude
College GPA (lower threshold) GPA (lower threshold) GPA (lower threshold)
College of Liberal Arts 3.95 3.89 3.80
College of Engineering 3.89 3.77 3.63
College of Science & Technology 3.94 3.85 3.74
Being in the bottom quartile in a very competitive school like Harvard, will have psychological effect due to “relative deprivation”. This may be detrimental to student, rather than having any positive outcome for the student, IMO.