<p>^ what would be a solid one for HYPSM, etc? Top 5% in the class? Top 1%?</p>
<p>I've seen the stats for top 10%, and obviously the majority of people are in the top 10%, but they don't get any more specific. What's a good % to shoot for at a relatively competitive suburban public school?</p>
<p>I would say top 2-3% for normal applicants but it really depends, ya know?</p>
<p>yea... i would say around 5 and under would be best. But really, HYPSM are looking for more than good grades so they might choose a top 5% over a top 1% just because they have other good things going on(ec's and such).</p>
<p>Are there any schools that split up the Top 10% even more, say into Top 5%, 2nd 5%. Etc.? I thought Brown or something went even more in depth. Anyone know?</p>
<p>Here's Brown's data sheet breaking down acceptances by class rank: <a href="http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Admission/gettoknowus/factsandfigures.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Admission/gettoknowus/factsandfigures.html</a></p>
<p>Basically, if you're not in the top five percent your chances drop drastically (from 19% to only 7% in the second top five percent). </p>
<p>Stanford doesn't break down class rank as specifically as Brown, but 47% of the applicants they admit are in the top 1-2% of their class. <a href="http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/applying/extras/1_2a6_profile.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/applying/extras/1_2a6_profile.html</a></p>
<p>does top 25% automatically exclude you?</p>
<p>yeah..more than likely 25% would get rejected...UCs dont even look at 25%....sadly...</p>
<p>This question can't be answered easily because it largely depends on your school. Certain schools are better (for lack of a better word) and have more competitive students. But the admissions officers of your region shoudl be familiar with such schools and that could help you out.</p>
<p>Top 5% should be sufficient.</p>
<p>Top 0.2% :)</p>
<p>If you look at admitted students' class rank, lots of them are in the top 1% of their class, especially you're from a public school.</p>
<p>yeah, I'd say that if you're in a private school, you can be a little bit lower in the class ranks. But at an average public school, you definitely should be in the top 2-3 percent of your class.</p>
<p>It really depends on the size of your school and how competitive it is. For example, in my independent school class of 64, the top 10% is just 6 kids... and people from below the top 20% went to Ivies and other great schools (one was a recruited athlete who went to Harvard, but I think a girl went to Penn under top 20%, etc). However, if you're in a public school class of 500 where only 50% go on to college, then you'd better be in the top 10% or so.</p>
<p>^ yeah, same situation with my school. we had 7 go to Ivies last year (out of 44) and the girls that went to Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, and 1/3 of the UPenn girls were nowhere near the top 10%.</p>
<p>I went to a competitive public high school in the boston area, and my grades probably placed me in the 25-30th percentile. Possibly lower, I'm not sure (school didn't rank but my unweighted GPA was 3.3). The short version of the story was that I was smart but bored. I ended up at Columbia.</p>
<p>Grades aren't everything. Don't obsess over class rank or the like... obsess over what gets you excited intellectually. Example: my dad pulled me out of school for a week in march to work on my science fair project. It might've hurt my grades, but the enthusiasm I showed (and the results) told colleges a different story.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, class rank counts more than it should at elite colleges. Yes, there is some allowance for the competition at a high school, but not enough.</p>
<p>This link is the only good study I've ever found on the issue. It's the best argument I've ever seen for high performing high schools to refuse to provide class rank information to colleges.</p>
<p>Wow, that's a really interesting article, Tarhunt. Thanks for sharing.</p>
<p>My high school only provides deciles, and I like it that way. </p>
<p>The best option, of course, is to homeschool! You're automatically first in the class (unless you have a twin...in which case you could be dropped to the bottom 50% of the class in no time flat!)</p>
<p>When you're homeschooled, you're not actually "homeschooled," but rather given a multitude of different education options which are combined in place of a normal education you'd get in school. For example, you might take a course at a community college, an EPGY online course, etc. So as interesting as that idea sounds, it's not technically correct. ;)</p>
<p>etselec:</p>
<p>Actually, decile ranking is even worse than regular ranking. For one thing, it makes the difference between the 89.9th percentile and the 90th percentile look much bigger than it really is. For another, it tends to penalize those at the top of the decile while rewarding those at the bottom.</p>
<p>What's worse is that 6% of the US News ranking is based (for national universities and LACs) on the percentage of matriculating freshmen in the top 10% of their classes. Colleges get credit for someone in the top 10%, but get punished for taking someone below that. Deciles mean that colleges must report the rank of a kid from that particular school. Without deciles, they don't have to report it. </p>
<p>If a school is average or tends to perform below the average, then there is a strong case for reporting class rank to colleges. If the school tends to be high-performing, I've seen no evidence that reporting class rank is a good idea.</p>