If high schools truly understood their role in preparing students for elite college admissions, they would eliminate class ranks. This practice needlessly pits students against each other, creating a zero-sum game where some students, even those with respectable grades, pale in comparison to their academically distinguished counterparts. If you happen to be a student at a highly rigorous school where the average GPA is 3.9, your 3.8 will look mediocre at best to the same admissions officers who praise a student’s 3.8 coming from a school with a 2.9 average. Ranking 5 out of 300 will also look better than ranking 156 out of 300, even if the academic raw material is precisely the same! Try as they might, admissions officers can’t unsee rank — it’s better to do away with this outdated process!

Does Class Rank Still Matter in Admissions?

Class ranking, when available, does matter. Here’s why:

Class Ranking is a Significant Component of Academic Index

When Ivy League admissions officers at highly selective colleges receive your application, the first thing they will usually do is calculate your Academic Index. This algorithmically determined score assesses your academic competency using a few key metrics: your GPA (when available), standardized test scores (when available), and class rank (when available). These metrics are used when available because no two high schools or students go about their academic records in quite the same way. Not every school calculates GPA for the same reason, and many do not calculate class rank. Moreover, with some colleges keeping their test-optional policies up and running in the wake of the pandemic, many students opt not to sit for any exams, which, they reason, could adversely impact their odds of admission should they get a poor score. For the record, we at Ivy Coach do not endorse this strategy, as failing to report test scores on your application only makes you seem less admissible.

These measures of academic success are often put into an algorithm (many schools have a variation of the Ivy League’s Academic Index), which spits out an assigned number to your application. At many of the most selective schools in the country, if your raw number doesn’t reach a certain threshold, the rest of your application won’t even be considered! If your class ranking is not as impressive as you would like (i.e., it is not in the top tenth of your graduating class), it will certainly work against you, even if you come from a highly competitive high school where nearly all students perform well. At most, you’ll meet a bare minimum requirement as determined by an impersonal algorithm, and at worst, you’ll face rejection over a statistic that your high school should have withheld from the prying eyes of admissions officers!

A Step in the Right Direction: Top High Schools Are Refusing to Rank Students

Given the lose-lose situation of class ranking, it’s not surprising that many of the top high schools in the country have chosen not to rank their students. This forward-thinking decision should inspire the rest of America’s high schools. Schools have nothing to gain from ranking students and a lot to lose. By removing rank from the equation, your raw academic data becomes a pure reflection of your academic potential, free from the competitive pressures of your learning environment. We commend the schools that have taken a stand against class ranking. It often matters a lot in elite college admissions, but it doesn’t have to!

How to Counteract the Effects of a Low Class Rank in College Admissions

All hope is not lost if your child has a low class rank. Ivy Coach’s team of former elite college admissions officers is here to optimize your child’s odds of admission to a highly selective college through a compelling singular hook. If you would like us to guide you through choosing the most competitive courses or opportunities for your soon-to-be college-bound high schooler, fill out our complimentary consultation form and we’ll be in touch.