<p>in terms of rank:</p>
<p>1/20</p>
<p>3/710</p>
<p>I don't think it matters if the high schools are equally competitive.</p>
<p>(before I answer, realize that I am speaking based on a book I read about college admissions). 3/710 is better. At least in the Ivy League, where they calculate Academic Index. Being a valedictorian in a very tiny class like 20 will not do good for your A.I. However, usually admission officers manually alter the A.I in those instances a little, also based on how competitive the school. But, I would guess rank would have to be checked by gpa and test scores.</p>
<p>The AI index really isn't used in admissions. It only has three components, SAT, SAT II's and class rank. If the SAT is higher than the SAT II's, then the SAT is used twice and then it only has two components.</p>
<p>The AI is related to the fact that the ivies are a sports league. All eight members of the league have agreed not to recruit athletes whose AI is below a certain level. It is not a factor in normal admissions.</p>
<p>For some reason, Michelle Hernandez seized on the AI when she wrote "A is for Admissions". I can't explain that. She was an adcom at Dartmouth. She has other questionable advice in that book. One nugget is that adcoms are not necessarily ivy graduates and so applicants have to understand that they are being judged by people not as smart as they are. Also, she felt that her coworkers were not up to her own level for the same reason. Her new book "Acing the College Application" is very good.</p>