<p>1) I'm 126 out of 500 in my class rank and that's 25.2%. Is that top 25%?
2) If it isn't how much of a decrease is that with college admissions that I'm top 25% or top 50%?</p>
<p>Don’t most colleges ask for approximate class rankings?</p>
<p>Top 25% would be if you were ranked 1-125. Sorry.</p>
<p>wow…this is tragic</p>
<p>Can’t you beat that one more person?</p>
<p>If your high school reports percentile rank and nothing else and reports quartile percentiles rather than decile percentiles, you are significantly worse off than if you were to move up that one spot. One may say, “wait, he’s only moving above one person in the rankings!” Yes, that is true. But, if a college sees 25th percentile, they will know you are anywhere from top student to 125th student, and they’ll probably assume that you are like the 50th-75th ranked student. If the same college sees 50th percentile, they will know that you are anywhere from 125 to 250, and they will likewise assume you are near 175th to 200th. So, a difference of about 125 people in the college’s perspective. That is a TON.</p>
<p>Long story short, if your college reports quartile and you don’t move up, ask your GC to explicitly state how close you were in her rec. If you move up to the top quartile, hope that the GC leaves it at that (don’t bring it up lol) and that the college assumes you are such a better student.</p>