My daughter is right on the border line with this. Does the % have to be under 10%, or do colleges look at the numbers and round up or down? for example, if it’s 10.45%, would they round down to 10% and consider that Top 10%? Or does it all depend on the individual college? Or even the individual admissions person looking at it?
Regarding your question, I wouldn’t worry about it - if you can defend a “top 10% ranking” then you can claim it.
However, as the father of 3 relatively recent applicants, strength of schedule, actual GPA and ECs are all more important than a “top 10% ranking”.
Depends on the college. The top 10% threshold could by huge for Texas residents applying to Texas public universities, but may be completely irrelevant when applying to colleges that do not even consider class rank.
I understand the various factors they consider, dependent on each particular college. Assuming top 10% is important to them, does anyone know for certain how any particular college looks at it? If it’s 10.99%, would they consider that as Top 10%? If it’s 10.1%, is that Top 10%?
My daughter’s rank changed, and the colleges she is waiting on for decisions do not have her most recent rank. It’s a small improvement, but maybe enough to help. At this late date, should I try to get transcripts to the colleges?
The people reading these apps are generally pretty reasonable, well-adjusted people. <10.5 is probably top 10%, 10.5+ is probably not.
i’d like to agree with i-wanna-be but considering the deep doodoo Claremont McKenna and others have gotten into for fudging on the reporting of stats, the schools may decide to not land in the gray area on things like this. At least from the standpoint of CDS reporting.
I have seen posts from TX kids trying to get into UT where the rank was something like 7.1% and they were not auto-admits (they take top 7%). When it is a crucial metric (and for tippy top schools, the top 10% is a pretty important one) there may be less room for wiggle-room.
But, back to i-wanna-be’s comment: for the sake of actual admission you would hope that this kind of thing wouldn’t be a deal breaker at a school that employees holistic admissions. I don’t think schools are likely to publicize their position on things like this.
Agree with both comments. Another one to file under “It is what it is.” Nothing you can do about it. Send the updated transcript if you are so inclined. Good luck.
No, they definitely don’t publicize. Which is why I called three of them to ask. Not only don’t they publicize, but it’s difficult to get a straight answer from them. One place said it could make a difference, and they would put a note on her file. Another place told me they had already made a decision (no notification as yet) and it would make no difference. Third college was not helpful at all, and told me to send an email to the general admissions email address. So I have no idea if it would make any difference there.
For 99% of people, this is a non-issue. But if you have a S/D that is on that bubble, it has the potential to matter.
Alot.
IWannaBe, my very first thought was that they should round down or round up. That would be the fair thing to do, IMHO. But I also don’t think it would be unreasonable to count it as Top 10% if it is 10.anything. I also think it’s reasonable if a college doesn’t count it as Top 10% unless it is actually under 10.0%.
It’s not fudging the numbers unless there is a clearly defined definition of Top 10%. Maybe there is. I don’t know. Which is the reason for my post.
This situation may require the nuanced explanation that is best given by the guidance counselor in his recommendation.
Private HS do not (generally) even report class rank. So I doubt that the 89th or 90th percentile would make a difference at all. It’s just a rounding error.
If your D is WL - then perhaps you can send an update, but for now it is too late and too small of a change to makea difference