<p>@nerdyasiankid, if you are applying to colleges where historically a lot of kids from your school apply, the admissions folks will know about the situation at your school. My D does to a selective enrollment school that is well known for significant grade deflation, and our Naviance data show that most (not all) selective colleges admit kids you would not expect them to, looking just at the college’s admissions data and our kids’ GPAs.</p>
<p>If you’re applying to a college outside the set that will be familiar with your school, your situation may indeed create a problem.</p>
<p>@annasdad: Yeah… one of my top choices is UCLA and only one person has ever enrolled there from my HS (several have gotten accepted in the past, but they used it as a “safety”). My school’s Naviance data isn’t reliable too, since it only shows weighted GPAs. Honors and AP classes are weighted the same in my school, despite the fact that AP classes are exponentially harder than honors classes. As a result, I can’t tell if someone with a certain GPA took a ton of AP classes or just stacked all honors classes.</p>
<p>To answer the original question, I second NYU.</p>
<p>Based purely on historical precedents from my high school, NYU admissions tends to overlook a lackluster GPA if you have excellent test scores and essays to boot.</p>
<p>However, my school also had severe grade deflation, so I’m not sure how accurate this info may be in terms of your situation.</p>
<p>^Seconded. I know a kid who got into Stern (the most competitive school of NYU) with a ~3.4 UW, 2300+, and few ECs. Plus he went to a mediocre public school. I have similar stats, but much better ECs. Still, anything could happen, so I’m hoping for the best but prepared for the worst =/</p>
<p>I would not. Being at the “top” of a single group of students means nothing. The 2nd smartest person in the world (to oversimplify things a lot) could be the #2 at a school if the smartest person in the world also attended that school, while there were 30,000 other kids far less intelligent who are valedictorians. However, the 2400 compares you to everyone. (Yes, I know 2350 vs 2400 is pretty immaterial, but I would take a 2350+ over valedictorian status any day, unless the valedictorian is at a highly competitive school like Exeter.)</p>
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<p>200 IQs are very rare. There are probably at most 5 people with that IQ or higher alive today.</p>
<p>^Yeah, but being a Val would definitely help more in college admissions. I’m pretty sure a Val with a 2200 SAT would have a better chance than a kid with a 3.5, 10% rank, and a 2400. But the 2400 would be a way better ego-booster, I agree.</p>