Reply to Can being the no. 1 student from TJ graduating class serve as a hook to top 10 universities?

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[quote=Anonymous]     I would not call being a top student at TJ a "hook."  Rather, I would expect top students there with very rigorous courses and high test scores, simply are among the strongest academic candidates applying to any school and have a higher chance of admission than most.  Sure, still need good recs, good essays, be able to interview without offending, etc., but compared to most smart kids who apply, coming from near the top of TJ has got to very helpful.    As for class rank, it doesn't matter that they don't formally rank.  Most private schools don't rank either but the colleges have a very strong sense of the relative strength within the class between counselor recs and because schools often provide a breakdown (i.e., a GPA above X is top 10%; between x-y is top 25%, etc.) and based on the colleges own historical records and naviance, they have a good feel for each applicant relative to others. 
Finally, top schools certainly do care about valedictorians and Salutatorians.  It isn't itself dispositive, of course, but if you read literature for many of the most selective privates (including Harvard, I believe) they call out how many of their students were the valedictorian of their high schools.   Alone -not enough -- but top rankings open doors especially for kids with fewer "hooks"  outside of their control. 
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