<p>Hi fellow CCers! I am so worried because I am not in the top 10% of my class and a lot of colleges seem to want that. I am in the top 15% of my class so if you were also in the top 15% of your class would you please share what colleges you got into thanks!!!!</p>
<p>Well I’m ranked 72/592 in my class (12%) with a 29 on my ACT and I’ve received nearly a full ride to missouri state university (the only college I’ve applied at so far).</p>
<p>My son was in a similar situation and received over $750,000 in merit scholarship offers and was accepted to all 13 colleges he applied to: Wake Forest, University of Richmond, SMU, and TCU to name 4 of the 13. My suggestion would be to apply to schools that look at applicants “holistically”, and that are not strictly driven by class rank and GPA. It also helps if you write killer essays, have amazing letters of recommendation, have other academic accomplishments (like AP Scholar with Distinction) and solid ECs. Good luck! </p>
<p>I applaud doreseach’s family for encouraging their son to focus on schools that were targets for him and not reaches. His success (all 13 acceptances, WOW) and significant merit aid show the importance of having a realistic application list.</p>
<p>DS was 15% and had a guaranteed full-ride to a school he loved (Alabama), so he only applied to reaches, other than Bama. He got into Brown, Duke and some other top 25s. HOWEVER, he also had top test scores and many national awards. There is no doubt in my mind that without the test scores, extraordinary ECs and major awards, his outcome would have been different. And without the guaranteed full-ride at Bama, his list would have looked VERY different, as he would have needed more matches and safeties.</p>
<p>I am a firm believer that students aren’t necessarily defined by their GPA’s or test scores at most schools, but it would be unwise to say “This guy had a low class rank and he got in, so I can, too.” The other components of your application need to be unusually strong in order to “compensate” for a mediocre class rank/GPA. So, attempting to determine the schools you might be accepted to by asking simply for an applicant’s class rank won’t be helpful to you. </p>
<p>You should make sure that you have either a guaranteed safety that you love, or more than one safety, if it isn’t guaranteed. You need some matches, and only a few reaches. If you are trying to figure out some additional schools to add to your list, that’s fine. But, I will be really sad if you are on here in April saying, “I heard that 15% students get accepted here, here and here (top schools), so I thought I had a good shot. But now I’m stuck going to a school I hate.” (Unfortunately, this happens every year). So, just know that asking only about the schools 15% students got into isn’t going to produce useful information for you. Find those ACTUAL matches and safeties based on YOUR stats. And remember: if you wouldn’t be happy spending four years there, or you can’t afford it, it’s not a safety.Good luck!</p>
<p>Many schools don’t rank. Others don’t pay attention to it. It all depends on the context of the school. For instance, a top 15% ranking at Stuveyant would mean something completely different than one from a poor inner-city school where most students don’t go to college.</p>
<p>@happykidsmom Yes I completely understand, thank you for the feedback! What kind of national awards did your son have? I do have extracurriculars that I have spent a lot of time in and now I’m just hoping for the best- not exactly trying to predict whether I will get in </p>
<p>@Fiestachicka , let me try to clarify. I don’t think DSs awards landed his acceptances, per se. I think it was more that his resume’ showed a complete dichotomy between his in-class performance and his academic commitment and scholarship outside of class. He won top honors at summer programs. He scored top scores on standardized tests. He wasn’t just involved in ECs. He competed in many completely unrelated EC competitions and won top awards in all of them. Yes, he had a lot of B’s, but he proved his high level of competence in those areas with his high test scores and top performance in related state/nat’l competitions.</p>
<p>It is very popular these days for applicants to claim to “love learning for learning’s sake”. It is my guess that, at this point, when adcoms read that phrase on an application, they’re starting to roll their eyes and yawn. DS never used that phrase. He just showed them through his essay and activities that he was a true scholar in many subject areas, regardless of what his class rank might suggest. </p>
<p>@shawnspencer is right about context. That’s the word I keep harping on with students here. DS was at a poor, inner-city school where most students don’t go to college. However, the school has an AP/IB magnet program that attracts the top students in the state. DS’s year, around 20 students went to Top 15 schools. DS was a total outlier in that group. The other students were ranked well within the Top 10%–most, in the Top 5%. DS was in the 15% weighted, but only in 20+% unweighted. </p>
<p>In my opinion, it was not the fact that he participated in a lot of activities, or even his leadership positions in those activities, that was a drawing point for schools. My guess is that, in comparison to the other Top 5% of students in his class, his national-level competition performance was extraordinary, and his commitment to true scholarship and learning, outside of the classroom and (mostly boring) class assignments, proved that he was more than capable of “keeping up” with his peers at a top school. </p>
<p>As for awards, he had around 30 or so nat’l/int’l? Enough that he didn’t list most of them. When he applied, he had around 20 or more, but won others throughout his senior year. Most of the pre-12th grade ones were academic–Mock Trial, Science, language, social studies, etc.–plus some service-related ones, like Nordstrom, Gloria Barron’s, Congressional Award Gold medal, etc. Then, he won Coca-Cola, Burger King, Quest, and a bunch of others that were mostly service-related senior year. </p>
<p>If you’re looking for a take-away from DS’ experience, it might be this:
- Have a safety school that you KNOW you will be accepted to and can afford, and where you KNOW you will be happy
- Have a couple of match schools on your list that you can afford and where you will be happy to attend if you are accepted–this just avoids some of the Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda’s in the spring and gives you OPTIONS (important)
- Make sure that you know why you are applying to your reach schools, and make sure that you convey that to the adcoms in your app. DS had a clear reason for applying to “his” reach schools. I made him add several add’l reach schools to his list (none of which he was really interested in attending) based solely on their generous Financial Aid. Of those schools, only one accepted him–the rest WLd or rejected him. DS knew why he was applying to “his” schools and he was accepted to all but one of those schools. Adcoms know whether you really love their schools, or really love their USNWR ranking or (in my case) their very generous FA policies. If you can’t make the time to really delve into a particular school’s curriculum, departments, grading policies, clubs and organizations, etc., and find out why you think a reach school would be the perfect environment for you, you should probably find a different school that captivates your interest–no matter its rank.</p>