Summer STEM Class Ranking

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msp1206

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Jun 23, 2020
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My high school does not rank and is very strict on releasing information related to that. Part of the Summer STEM application asks for class ranking, or to provide remarks on your class standing. What is the best way to go about answering that question if your high school has very limited information to provide on class standing?
 
The application says 'Estimated Class Rank', so just estimate. That's what my son did, with no info provided from the HS to go on.
 
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Ask your guidance counselor if he/she can help you estimate your place, say by decile or quartile. That’s good enough for Summer STEM, which is not a strict rack-and-stack process. It’s an outreach program, so many other factors go into it beyond class rank.
 
MidCakePa said:
Ask your guidance counselor if he/she can help you estimate your place, say by decile or quartile. That’s good enough for Summer STEM, which is not a strict rack-and-stack process. It’s an outreach program, so many other factors go into it beyond class rank.
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I'll try that, thank you.
 
msp1206 said:
How did you go about estimating it? Did you base if off of GPA?
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He e-mailed his counselor in early January to ask about receiving his unofficial transcript, which would show GPA and class rank. Due to Covid craziness, he was told that would not be available until much later in the month. Because he is a freshman he’s never even seen his HS GPA so far. Not wanting to hold up the application, just wanting to get it out of the way before getting too deep into spring semester, he just estimated. He figured top 10% for sure, put himself at the bottom of that 10%, then gave himself the same boost his HS would for being in honors. So, as you can see, it’s an incredibly exact science. 🤭

Seriously, don’t overthink this. USNA will not be consulting with the NSA to figure out how close your estimate was. Best of luck with your application! Hope you get good news this spring!
 
parentalunit2 said:
He e-mailed his counselor in early January to ask about receiving his unofficial transcript, which would show GPA and class rank. Due to Covid craziness, he was told that would not be available until much later in the month. Because he is a freshman he’s never even seen his HS GPA so far. Not wanting to hold up the application, just wanting to get it out of the way before getting too deep into spring semester, he just estimated. He figured top 10% for sure, put himself at the bottom of that 10%, then gave himself the same boost his HS would for being in honors. So, as you can see, it’s an incredibly exact science. 🤭

Seriously, don’t overthink this. USNA will not be consulting with the NSA to figure out how close your estimate was. Best of luck with your application! Hope you get good news this spring!
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That sounds good, thank you!
 
My son (USNA '24) was in the same situation (high school didn't rank). He asked his Admissions officer and they said it was ok to leave blank. So he did.
 
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