Will colleges be understanding when it comes to my (distorted) class rank?

Applying to College
1

I just moved high schools for my senior year of high school. At my old school, my rank was 1 of 300. At my new school, they will take all of my numerical grades, but refuse to apply their honors-weighting factor on any of my transferred credits (which is a nice bonus of x1.1) when calculating class rank. They haven’t given me a reason why, besides “it’s our policy.” So essentially, I will be approximately equal to those who took Honors classes and got B’s.

Because of this, my class rank will drop from 1 to about 50 of 250. Will colleges be understanding when I explain this to them? Will there be any way on my applications in which I can indicate this information without being ignored? Also, does anyone have thoughts on the same concerns for applying for academic scholarships?

Thanks ahead of time!

2

Don’t explain it to them; there is absolutely, positively no way that you will be able to explain this without being perceived as whiny. Let your GC explain it.

3

I have to agree, don’t try to explain it yourself. If your GC is willing to write about it then let him/her handle it but trying to do so yourself will backfire.

4

Alright, thanks guys. I’m not sure if my counselor would be willing or not, but if she is, how does anyone recommend going about that? Would she just write a letter and email it to the undergraduate admissions office? I just want to make sure I do this in the most accommodating way, because I recognize this could look like an annoying and entitled kid trying to make excuses. I just want to make sure I am accurately represented for my applications.

5

She would incorporate it into her recommendation. There is no need for a separate letter; it’s a sentence of two at the most.

6

If the guidance counselor is willing to mention it in his/her recommendation, that would be preferable. However, if not, I would include it in the Additional Info section of the common app in a very factual way, i.e. “during freshman and sophomore years, my rank was 1 out of 300. When I moved to [name of new school], school policy did not allow my previous honors classes to receive any weighting, and because of that, my ranking at [name of new school] is significantly lower.” I don’t think this sounds particularly whiny, and I do think it’s important info.