My son wants to be either a computer or electrical engineer, and has had to transfer schools his senior year because our local rural high school did not offer calculus of any kind.

How should he handle class rank on his college applications? Is it his class rank at his prior school? (He was last ranked 4th out of 167) The new, smaller school won't rank him until he has completed a semester, so that is probably after the December deadlines.

Did he finish the 1st three years at his previous high school? If he completed his junior year there then I would think that it his class rank for his application. I think it is normal to apply with the end of junior year class rank. If you wait until a senior ranking after the first semester it is past the deadline. And with top 10% you do need to have a transcript sent to A&M for them to verify top 10% for auto admit.

Agree. You apply with your 6 semester transcript. So June 1 (ish) going into his senior year is what you apply with since app opened Aug 1. Get it done ASAP, rolling admission

Yes, he should be targeting to apply by the end of August so his junior ranking is what is provided. Absolutely do not wait for December deadlines; it needs to be sent shortly. While the top 10% guarantees admission, it does not necessarily guarantee the major he wants and the competitive ones fill up in the fall with the rolling admission process

If you child is dead set on studying one specific engineering field, I would suggest you read the ETAM thread on this board.