Do Colleges Compare Me to Classmates?

At my high school, three students got into Harvard.

A dozen got into Cornell.

The valedictorian went to UCLA.

Now, UCLA is a hot school (with, admittedly, hot weather). However, I tell this story because I find that many families have messed-up expectations. They are obsessed with being “top of their class” because they don't  understand what colleges care about.

If you had asked anyone at my school who was the smartest, most impressive, everyone would’ve said Richard. Or Rodger. Whatever his name was. 4.0, perfect everything.

I was nowhere in contention with Richard or whatever his name was. Yet my slightly chaotic, deeply specific, not-top-of-the-class self got into better schools than he did.

Because here’s the secret nobody tells you:

You’re not competing against the kid in front of you. You’re competing against a nation.

College Admissions ≠ High School Hunger Games

There is a toxic narrative in high schools: “If Becky gets into MIT, that’s one less spot for me.”

This creates a super-toxic high school culture. Students obsess over who has the most APs? Who’s ranked first? Who took Calc BC as a fetus?

We’ve raised an entire generation to treat high school like LinkedIn for minors. Our entire adolescence as a leaderboard. Beat the kid next to you.

This makes kids miserable. Miserable kids don’t get into the best schools. Kids who have the bandwidth to take risks and develop a strong POV do.

Valedictorian becomes the holy grail because it feels like proof. Proof you won the game! But your dream school isn’t playing it!

What the Data Actually Shows (Sorry, Roger)

According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, only 9% of colleges care about “Class Rank.” That number drops to 0% at many elite schools.

Why? Because high schools have inflated grades to the point of absurdity. When 25 kids have a 4.5 GPA, “Rank #1” is a statistical tie, not a distinction. And when they do, it’s often political, messy, and irrelevant in a sea of 4.0s and GPA inflation.

Valedictorian tells us who was good at following every rule in one very specific context.

There are approximately 26,400 public secondary schools and 10,690 private secondary schools in the United States. That is roughly 37,000 valedictorians graduating every single year.

Now, let’s look at the Ivy League. The total entering freshman class size for all eight Ivy League schools combined is roughly 14,000 to 15,000 spots.

Even if the Ivy League only accepted Valedictorians—and rejected every student council president, every athlete, and every legacy admit—they would still have to reject 60% of the Valedictorians in America.

Harvard’s Dean of Admissions, William Fitzsimmons, has been open about this. In a typical year, Harvard rejects roughly 3,500+ valedictorians and thousands of students with perfect SAT math scores.

Being #1 in your hallway doesn’t make you special. 

What High School You Go to Counts (A Lot)

Multiple students from the same high school get into the same elite college all the time. I won the rare, Hodson Trust merit scholarship to Johns Hopkins. So did Judy. We edited the yearbook together!

If admissions were a zero-sum competition inside a school, this would not happen. Yet it happens constantly, including at the Ivy League and top public universities.

That’s because colleges don’t compare you to your classmates. They compare you to the country.

🧠 Your intended major matters.
📍Your zip code matters.
🧬 Your family background matters.
🔥 Your spark, your story, your specificity really matter!

Who’s Actually in Competition

Two students from the same classroom, applying to different majors, are not competing for the same seat. They are in entirely different applicant pools.

Public admissions data from large systems like the UC schools shows that acceptance rates vary dramatically by major within the same university, sometimes by two or three times. Highly impacted majors like computer science, engineering, or nursing admit at far lower rates than less impacted fields.

Then, there’s $$$.

Low-income or first-gen students are evaluated in the context of their resources. So they’re judged not against the wealthiest kids at their school, but against nationwide data for similarly situated students. So, students are judged by the income bracket of their parents.

And then there’s our favorite subject…race and diversity! The truth is, if you are a racial minority and went to a rigorous high school, you are a gem to colleges. They’re not competing against their classmates, but against students with the same identity who have much fewer resources.

All this means: College admissions is not a leaderboard within your class!

Stop Competing With Your Classmates

Colleges don’t build classes full of all-stars. They build constellations.

They don’t want a class of 500 well-rounded overachievers. That’s how you build a committee. Not a college.

They want sharp peaks. Loud voices. Singular perspectives. Weird obsessions. Flawed leaders. Quiet radicals. Late bloomers. Supernovas.

Why do students with slightly lower GPAs but clearer direction, sharper intellectual identity, or more unusual impact sometimes outperform valedictorians?

They are easier to place. Easier to justify. Easier to need.

Don’t listen to anyone who says you’re competing against the people sitting next to you. That belief leads students to: play it safe, be boring for approval, pad resumes instead of living boldly, and measure success by rank rather than meaning.

You don’t want to be valedictorian.

You want to be impossible to substitute.