All About Class Rank. What It Is and How It Is Used in College Admissions. The Reason Why Some Schools Do Not Use It. How Important Class Rank Is for Harvard, Brown, Princeton, Stanford, and UCLA

# 075 – Class rank is one of the factors considered for admission decisions by college admission officers in some colleges and universities.

Because class rank is so important to those institutions, it is important that you understand everything about class rank.

On this episode, I talk about what class rank is, how it is computed, and how it is used in the college admission process.

Additionally, I present some of the reasons why some high schools choose not to rank students.

For example, in cases where the GPAs of several students in a grade level are high but also very close together, it is not unusual for students to be left out of a percentage category by mere fractions of a GPA point.

I also explore the difference between weighted and unweighted class rank, and point out which of the two offers you a better opportunity to rank higher.

As the episode crosses the mid-point, I re-introduce a document reported by colleges and universities, which you can use to find out how important class rank is to those schools, or if they consider it at all.

It is at that point in the episode, that I explore whether class rank is important for Harvard University, Brown University, Princeton University, Stanford University, and UCLA.

In fact, as I present that information on the episode, I make a decision to go over the importance each of those universities place on the different academic and non-academic factors of the admission application.

You will be very surprised to hear which institutions do not care at all about class rank, and which does not make use of letter of recommendation.

Links mentioned on this episode:

U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings: Best National University Rankings

Harvard University: Common Data Set for 2020-2021

Brown University: Common Data Set for 2020-2021

Princeton University: Common Data Set for 2019-2020

Stanford University: Common Data Set for 2020-2021

UCLA: Common Data Set for 2020-2021

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