What does "top 10% of graduating class" really mean?

<p>I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’ve lived near NYC most of my life … you know, that competitive place … but I’ve concluded that it’s hard to identify strength but it’s easy to identify weakness. Is being in the second decile really a tragedy? Of course not. But when 70% of a college’s applicants are in the first decile, one shouldn’t be surprised to receive a high proportion of rejections.</p>