When students apply to 4-year colleges and universities, in many cases they have to answer a question about their rank. To come up with rank, their high school would utilized all the grades they've earned to date, including extra GPA points (in some cases) for courses with added rigor. Those courses include Honors, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Dual Enrollment. The calculated GPA is then compared to that of peers in their specific grade level. However, in many cases, high schools do not rank. 

A little over a decade ago, a counselor at the high school where I working at the time came home from attending a Harvard Summer Institute on College Admissions with a proclamation that we should stop ranking students. At these training sessions, the College Board would collaborate with admissions officers from Harvard and other highly selective institutions to provide intensive training for school counselors on the topic of college admission. My colleague learned at the Institute that while reporting rank on a student's application can be advantageous for those in the top tier of their senior class, for those closer to the middle 50th%, it may be best to leave rank out. Further, my colleague's take away was that while we should switch to not ranking students, we should still provide rank in our counselor letter of recommendation for students, but only when in the top tier of their class. The idea here of course was a 'no harm' policy. Pretty slick, eh?

But, there are even more benefits of not ranking students. Two obvious reasons come to mind: Preventing intense competition between peers and reducing pressure on schools to engage in grade inflation. Certainly I can get on board with all of this, but the reality is that even if high schools do not provide rank, colleges tap into current and historical data to get a sense of where a given student might fall in comparison to peers at their school. And while many colleges and universities in the United States engage in a holistic review of applicants (taking into consideration many other factors beyond rigor and GPA), rank is a factor that plays a major role at times. 

Each year, institutions are surveyed for the Common Data Set, and in the 2023-2024 compilation of data, 566 four-year degree granting institutions reported that they "Consider" rank as part of the evaluation process. 296 institutions indicated that rank is "Important" in admissions review, and 215 noted that it is "Very Important".

So wait, if it is considered, important or very important, is that something I should be aware of when considering my chances of admission at a particular school? Unless you have a special hook, like being a recruited athlete at certain schools, the answer to that question is YES.

Students these days are savvy to the concept of Reach for admission, Target for admission, or Likely for admission. They are comfortable putting colleges into these categories so that they can feel relatively confident that their application list is balanced in terms of odds of admission. They use handy databases to determine their odds of admission and advice from their amazing school counselors, CBO Advisors, and Independent Educational Consultants.

Here's the thing. When applying to schools like Pomona College, The United States Naval Academy, Williams College, Oberlin, Notre Dame and the University of Virginia (just to name a few), who state that rank is "Very Important" in admission review, it is my belief that students should apply to these schools with a better understanding of their true odds for admission.

Boston University, like many schools, posts right on their website "Freshman Profile" statistics: Reporting that 86% of enrolled students fell into the top 10% of their senior class. And Yale states that 96% of enrollees fell into the top 10%, with a whopping 99% in the top 25th%.

While I am all about reaching for the stars and throwing one's hat in the ring for one or two dream schools, I am also for empowering students and families with knowledge. I believe it is a student's right to know where they fall in terms of their class ranking. Rest assured that colleges have access to data that illustrates an academic profile of students even if not provided by the high school itself. Thus, in many cases colleges are more informed about a student than they are about themselves!  

While I am empathetic to the plight of schools who have genuine concerns over the well-being of students on the topic of ranking, can we at least agree to EMPOWER our students with the knowledge of what percentile they fall into? Would it be a fair compromise to inform students that they fall into the top 10%, the top 25% or the middle/below 50th? 

My argument is not for changing school policy, nor that doing away with ranking is all bad for kids. Rather, that by denying students information about their rank, we are adding fuel to the fire of the mystery of college admission in the United States of America. What if we gave more power to our students and parents to make informed choices? What if a student, with knowledge that they fall into the bottom 50th%ile of their class still chose to apply to a school that tends to admit nearly all students in the top 10%? That's fine with me, but at least they submitted that application with their eyes wide open.

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About Rya Carpenter

Founder of Balanced College Planning |  Co-Founder of RytePlan

Rya holds a Masters Degree in Counseling and Guidance, in addition to a Counseling Credential from the State of California, which has allowed her to serve as a school based counselor for over 20 years.

She has the unique experience of working with students in the public and private school setting, and now as an Independent Educational Consultant, giving her a broad perspective of student experiences and what colleges are looking for in an applicant.

As a member of the National Association of College Admission Counselors (NACAC), and the Higher Education Consultants Association (HECA), Rya travels to colleges throughout the country regularly for training and connection with colleagues.