<p>Yeah, nobody cares about the high school ranking. They rank it based on number of ap's per student. My school has 3400 students, and it would be hard for us to be ranked really high. The high school ranking means crap. Also, the valedictorian has a low SAT for Yale. And, Yale needs more than just the SAT and gpa, they want people to be outstanding at everything.</p>
<p>Whoops. I meant to say Cornell. Not yale.</p>
<p>valedictorian isn't as great of an accomplishment on the college app as it may seem. every single school has at least one val. considering vals probably apply to at least some top schools, val on app isnt a distinguishing factor. does a college really want a student body of only vals?</p>
<p>Wow, Taxguy
I am sorry to hear your news. It must be devastating for your valedictorian and it does seem unfair. This whole process seems so enigmatic and sometime random.<br>
But his/her destiny may not lie in any of the Ivy schools.... This is the only source of comfort I can offer. Perhaps a dream career or a wonderful spouse lies at the school he or she will attend?
I do know one thing from our experience--- the Ivys value a very high critical reading score (verbal) -- they really seem to love this number above all other numbers, but this is something that is not often mentioned in the stat books. A CR number of over 730 greatly boosts your chances...but still does not guarantee anything...
It has been a brutal year this year, especially for girls-- my d has seen almost all of her brilliant friends get waitlisted everywhere. Wow.... it is tough to be a kid....</p>
<p>Ya about the reading thing...I got a 35 on the reading section on the ACT so when you say that, it makes me think that that might have helped more than I had thought.</p>
<p>i got one year GT to Cornell and i'm the only person in my 62 person class to even apply to an ivy and i'm ranked 14 (I'll tell you, the desire part REALLY helps). two people applied to tufts and both got rejected, one got into Pratt, ans that's about it for the "good" schools. our valedictorian was homeschooled for 9th grade and now takes AP english, no science, and a bunch of art classes, that makes everone really mad.</p>
<p>rejected at pton. accepted at corny. val</p>