Class rank a factor? 3.4x, 176 Forum

[coward]

Applied to most of the t14. Skipped Yale, Stanford, and Berkeley.

The caveat to my GPA is that I finished Magna, well within the top 10% of my class, graduated from my school's honors program, etc. It was a private, liberal arts schools in New England - perfectly fine school, but not a national name. Also, have a few years work experience.

On the one hand I'm insisting on telling myself that it's only a numbers game and that my GPA holds me back. On the other, does anyone believe that schools read past the pure numbers to assess potential?

So, the question is: does anyone have experience with similar situations? Most people on LSN don't include class rank, so I can look at the people with a 3.3/3.4 and 174+ who apply to Columbia, NYU, etc., but it's tough to find good analogues for myself.

Thanks,

[KMaine]

Not really in the same boat, but had a 3.53 and was in the top 2% of my class (small private college in New England). I don't think schools took that into account for either admissions or financial aid.

[mel2010]

I didn't get the impression that class rank mattered either. I finished with a higher GPA (3.7ish) that was top 5% and got in to good schools but didn't get much love $$-wise. I guess it's always hard to tell with splitters, but even without taking rank into consideration you should get some solid acceptances (including a decent shot at CCN) with your scores (particularly if that X is closer to 9 than to 0 , and particularly if you applied relatively early), but don't count on big money from a merit standpoint.

[ryemanhattan]

you should write a very brief addendum about how your gpa was not indicative of your actual performance. This will help, a little, with admissions. I wouldn't expect it to help with $$ though.

[coward]

KMaine - there is only one possible place in New England that you could have gone, haha. I'm sure we're from the same undergrad - we may even have messaged a while back (I took the LSAT in '09, thought about applying, then held off for a couple of years).

I finally got around to putting apps in - are you still at Cornell? I think I'll be coming to visit in Feb. or March and would love to grab a cup of coffee if you're around.

[iamrobk]

Not really in the same boat, but had a 3.53 and was in the top 2% of my class (small private college in New England). I don't think schools took that into account for either admissions or financial aid.

Heh, I have a 3.53 and according to LSAC I'm 62nd percentile at my school.

[coward]

At our place, 80% of students graduate with a gpa below 3.0. Seriously. Haha.