This is why the “school profile” that gets sent to the academy is so important. They can tell by the profile how difficult the classes are, how competitive the students are by how many go to college, what type of college, etc. They obviously use your gpa and act/sat scores to fill in the blanks academically.
In the end, you need to realize and accept certain facts/truths. You will NEVER have a scenario that the academy hasn’t come across before. EVER! Do you know how many “home schooled” kids apply to the academy? Unless you have twins like fencersmom, I doubt you’d be able to rank them. And finally, most important of all, it just doesn’t matter. Because there’s nothing about it that you can do anything about. When the academy sees your transcripts, school profile, etc. and they see class rank as N/A, they’ll handle it. Just like the home schooled kids and the HUNDREDS of other schools that don’t rank.
The only reason for a class rank, is to help the academy determine how difficult your classes are. Example: if you have a 3.75 gpa and your class rank is 50 out of 1000, that’s a pretty tough school academically. That means 95% of your class has LESS than you. If you have a 3.95 gpa and you are ranked 100 out of 1000, then the classes and grading are probably pretty easy. 20% or more are getting A’s and 10% of the class has higher than a 3.95.
And it gets even more complicated when trying to compare apples to oranges. A student who took ALL IB classes throughout high school and has a 3.85 gpa, are they lower than the person who took the state minimum required classes to pass high school and they had a 4.0 gpa?
That’s why you should not think about things like this. Think about the things you can control. Take the most difficult classes available at your school that hopefully you can do well in. Study and get the highest act/sat scores you can. Be involved in team sports, leadership positions, clubs, community service, and other extra curricular activities that make you a well rounded individuals.
As someone who has interviewed quite a few applicants to the academy, and as many other alo’s, malo’s, and bgo’s on this forum who have interviewed so many more than I will tell you, we’ve seen a lot of 4.0 gpa students, even with very high act/sat scores, NOT receive an appointment with some with a 3.65 gpa did receive one. Many of those 4.0 gpa with 34-36 act scores, ONLY had their academics. They weren’t involved in significant team activities, leadership roles, etc. they weren’t well rounded. Just book smart. Work on what you can control and don’t worry about things you can’t control.
