Valedictorian / class of 7?

Applying to College
1

<p>SO i graduated first in my class of 7 students out of a pretty highly aclaimed (but little) ladership development program in Nevada. They graduated kids every 2 months, and it was a lot of attention was given to each kid, so that's why the class ended up so low. My GPA was a 3.51 though.</p>

<p>How does this look? COnsidering I have a slighly lower GPA, and although Im 1st in class, I only had 7 in my class, so does it make an impact? Might it make my school look bad if a 3.51 was first in class, (after all the material was difficult, and so that's why it ended up like that, but we didn't have "AP" or "HONORS" classes per se.</p>

<p>SO ANY KIND OF FEEDBACK OR IDEA ON HOW THIS WILL SHOW UP ON AN APPLICATION?!</p>

<p>THANKS GUYS!!!</p>

2

<p>If you can, I would give a brief explanation for why your class size was so low on the application. Of course, it doesn’t look as good as being ranked 1 out of 600, but if you explain that it was a special type of school that would probably help you.</p>

3

<p>Your high school should provide the colleges with a description of the high school, e.g., size, # APs offered, etc. You won’t need to. </p>

<p>Certainly being ranked 1 out of 7 is better than being ranked 7 out of 7, but honestly, I don’t think colleges are going to find it very meaningful and I’m a little surprised the school even bothers.</p>

4

<p>You are the sort of student where selective schools will pay very close attention to SAT, ACT and SAT subject test scores, as well as AP scores if you submit them. In order to properly interpret your GPA and rank, they will look to your test scores to put the rigor of your education in context.</p>

5

<p>I agree, your scores will complete the picture.</p>

6

<p>SO if Im submitting an ACT as follows…</p>

<p>Composite-31
english-32
math-34
reading-29
science-27</p>

<p>…is this the kind of score that sort of makes my rank legitimate?</p>

7

<p>Those are good scores but it’s not a question of making your rank legitimate. It’s a question of applying to schools appropriate for your grades, rank and scores.</p>

8

<p>Eliminate rank in your college application process. In other words, find school admit rates for your GPA and ACT score. The idea that your school even ranks students is crazy. A class rank with so few students and no AP or Honors classes in the mix is meaningless. </p>

<p>Look for schools with good admission rates for students with B averages and your ACT score range.</p>

9

<p>Look at WPI, they’ll give $19K scholarship to val (also to sal). Now their web site doesn’t say minimum class size so maybe there’s a shot :)</p>

10

<p>Yeah my K-12 school when I was in Grade 6 had a graduating class of 5 people. That’s why I changed schools, because that honestly looks kind of weird on your app.</p>

11

<p>So Nosike, were you actually thinking strategically about college admissions in 6th grade?</p>

12

<p>earlier the better; my 10 year old nephew is alreadyu studying for his SATs…</p>

<p>Any adice on how to help a person in my position with alright stats but a crap GPA???</p>

13

<p>Your test score(s) match your 3.5 GPA. ACT 31 is equivalent to 2100 SAT. Most Vals from competitive HS have 2300+ SAT.</p>