A lot of good questions and concerns. One thing that keeps getting lost in the various discussions is that many are concentrating and emphasizing such a small part of the equation. e.g. Class Rank; posted Grade point average.
What about the home schooled who's "School Profile - Mom/Dad" doesn't show a percentage of how many went to college and what type? I understand the concerns that some have about making the scoring fair, but there are 2 things that really need to be emphasized.
1) It can NEVER be 100% fair, because schools, school districts, states, etc... are not standard. Therefor, you can't 100% compare all schools, classes, grades, etc... But the academies do a really good job getting close.
2) Each of these concerns being brought up such as class rank and gpa are just a piece of the puzzle. The academic section of your final score is made up of a lot of facets.
Without getting into details that I can't say, let me put it this way. An individual with a 3.98 can easily have a much higher "Academic Score" in their application than a person with a 4.00. What I mean is: Both individuals can go to the exact same school. One could be #3 ranked in their class; the other one ranked #16. And the gpa and class rank part of their academic score may only be about 10-15 points difference. Yet, the one with the slightly lower gpa and class rank, could be HUNDREDS of points higher in their overall academic score. And these are two individuals in the exact same school, same school profile, and basically taking the same classes. The main reason for being HUNDREDS of points difference overall academically is because of ACT/SAT scores.
That's why many here keep emphasizing taking the ACT/SAT as many times as you can. The points some of you are worried about and think are unfair are very insignificant when compared to the points you gain from going from a 27 ACT Math to a 28 or 29 ACT Math.