<p>The New Yorker publishes a long, facinating article about the battles to be valedictorian, and how schools are reacting.</p>
<p>It is an extremely interesting article. I think what people fail to realize is that colleges are not looking for numbers but rather people. It just confirms the fact that we already know people with perfect board scores and perfect GPAs can get rejected. Of course, it is nice knowing that one is an academic superstar in one's high school; however, that is not the point of college admissions. You can be an academic allstar, but also a conscientious person, while pursuing activities you love and overall just enjoying life instead of acting like a racehorse.</p>
<p>One aspect of this business I don't understand is that many of these controversies (including the notorious Hornstine affair) arose <em>after</em> all the affected parties had received their college acceptances; there was nothing but ego involved - either the ego of the students or the ego of the parents.</p>
<p>In some of the less egregious lawsuits, it appeared that the students/parents only wanted to be recognized for what they had achieved. That's hardly an excess of ego: if you've 'won' the valedictorian award but are about to be denied it because of a technicality or a mistake, I think it's a natural response to speak up and try to rectify the situation.</p>
<p>It's not about college admissions, not about racing to the top, not even really about cultivating ego. There are examples of each of those, but I think in most cases, the primary motivation is a desire for the true winner to be recognized.</p>
<p>Also, for the record, my high school named its valedictorian on the basis of the first 7 semesters' grades. It seems that a lot of these situations could have been avoided if the schools had policies like that, which leave ample time to resolve any conflict.</p>
<p>It is really about ego. The primary motivation should be to get a good education and go to a good college. They had obviously accomplished that, as Byerly noted. All that was left was a nice ego boost.</p>
<p>I agree with abcdefghijklm's first paragraph. Are you sure about the second paragraph? What makes a "true" winner, when in many cases there were discrepancies and not-widely-known rules regarding being named valedictorian status? I can understand that a person that has worked to become a valedictorian and is denied that right can feel as if they have received the short end of the stick. However, I think greater maturity on part of students should be demonstrated.</p>
<p>does anyone know where blair hornstine ended up going ot college after harvard rescinded her acceptance</p>
<p>I believe she is in the UK; possibly at St. Andrews.</p>
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<blockquote> <p><em>after</em> all the affected parties had received their college acceptances; there was nothing but ego involved - either the ego of the students or the ego of the parents.<< </p> </blockquote>
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<p>Boy, you sure got that right. I know that for my S, who was recently named valedictorian, it certainly made him (and us) proud, but it wouldn't have killed him if someone else had taken the honor. Why? 'Cause he already knows he is going to Harvard in the fall, and he's just having fun right now with his friends. That all that really matters at the current time. Actually, I think him being valedictorian has more meaning to the grandparents than him. They've just gone gaga over it.</p>
<p>I know what you mean, Mordioux. While my son was proud to get the honor, now the burden of writing his speech hangs over him, and he's definitely procrastinating! His acceptance by Harvard last Dec. was definitely the year's high point, making all this somewhat anti-climactic.</p>
<p>Don't you think that him being #1 in his class played a significant role in his acceptance to Harvard?</p>
<p>I think it was a contributing factor, but he had many other accomplishments which I think made him stand out more (eg. 1600 SAT, published scientific paper, nationally ranked in debate, etc.). At our school, the two students who got accepted to Harvard in previous years were both #3 in the class, while the #1 and 2 students got rejected from most/all the Ivy's they applied to. I think Harvard, which gets so many vals/sals in their applicant pool, is looking for what the student has done in addition to getting top grades.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>Don't you think that him being #1 in his class played a significant role in his acceptance to Harvard?<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>I'm sure it was... especially looking back on it now. However, I can tell you that as he was going through the admissions process we didn't know if any one aspect of his grades, scores, ECs etc. would be looked upon as more "significant" than any other. For all we knew being #1 did not carry all that much weight. After all, we knew there's lots of good schools that don't rank at all. At the end of the day I think his class rank was just more more arrow in his "qualifications quiver".</p>
<p>Just to clarify...he (and his parents) do feel very honored and proud, ...I was just relating to the previous post that noted that the acceptance to the college of choice felt like the greatest accomplishment.</p>
<p>xjayz: Agreed, but I think in some of the cases, the "clearly" more qualified valedictorian got the short end of the stick. </p>
<p>While I think the mature thing to do would be to be extremely hesitant to protest a valedictorian decision, I would be equally hesitant to say that there is never a situation where a protest is justified.</p>
<p>Surely we can all imagine a situation where protesting a valedictorian decision would be a matter of correcting a wrong and not simply promoting an ego.</p>
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<p>And just to present a different viewpoint, in response to some of these most recent posts, I would argue rather strongly that being valedictorian of your class is a greater accomplishment than being accepted into the college of your choice. The former may not present the same opportunities for future success (and hence not be as exciting), but it is (at least in theory) a reflection of having performed the best by an objective measure. Being accepted into a school, however, is a subjective determination made by an outsider that can hardly be termed an accomplishment in itself; rather, it is an acknowledgement of one view of achievement.</p>
<p>So while one might reasonably prefer acceptance at a choice college to being named valedictorian, valedictorian has the greater intrinsic value.</p>
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<p>many of these controversies (including the notorious Hornstine affair) arose <em>after</em> all the affected parties had received their college acceptances; there was nothing but ego involved - either the ego of the students or the ego of the parents.</p>
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<p>Exactly, and it just isn't worth it.</p>
<p>My senior spring, I had a terrible personality conflict with a TF. I should have switched sections, but I was a lazy second-semester senior and didn't bother. In May, the TF confronted me and revealed that she had secretly eavesdropped on me saying negative things about her to my classmates. I wrote to the professor, asking if I could have a different TF grade my final, because I thought this TF would be biased against me. He asked me to give the TF the benefit of the doubt for the time being, but that if I was unhappy with the mark she gave me, he would personally regrade all my work.</p>
<p>Well, sure enough, I got a lower grade than I was certain I deserved. But the grades were sent out one day before Commencement, and I had already been admitted to my first choice law school two months earlier. Even though the professor had agreed in advance to look into it, I felt ridiculous starting a fight over something as petty as a half-grade disagreement when I'd already graduated AND hit a grad school admissions jackpot. So I just let it go, and I have an A-minus in that class even though I earned an A, and it doesn't keep me up at night. I can't IMAGINE filing a lawsuit on such a moot point...I didn't even think it was worth troubling the professor about!</p>
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<p>I would argue rather strongly that being valedictorian of your class is a greater accomplishment than being accepted into the college of your choice...a reflection of having performed the best by an objective measure.</p>
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<p>Using the same logic we should agree that scoring 1600 at SAT is a great accomplishment and reflection of having performed the best by an objective mesure - just like a sport record.</p>
<p>At many schools (including mine) being the valedictorian is not an academic achievement as much as it is the one who gamed the system the best. Those taking as many academic "weighted" classes (AP) and no electives are rewarded, those who can afford summer PE so it doesn't go on their transcript, taking pass/fail electives so that it doesn't lower a gpa, not taking college classes because they aren't weighted etc etc. Bascially, the top 15 at my school has less than a .1 difference in GPA - so it does come down to these silly things which doesn't measure academic achievement.</p>
<p>Despite this, no one has ever considered legal action - and I don't think that's warranted.</p>
<p>Luckily, the top schools can see through this as in my experience the top 2 people were rejected at most top schools while others got in.</p>
<p>conwoman: Wouldn't you agree? Scoring a perfect score on an aptitude test is a bigger achievement than having someone influential tell you that you have aptitude....</p>
<p>Most people would probably still prefer the latter, but nevertheless, the first is an *accomplishment<a href="as%20is%20a%20sports%20record">/i</a>, the second is nice recognition. Valedictorian, frankly, is both accomplishment and recognition, while I would distinguish college acceptance as solely recognition.</p>
<p>And Hanna, I can't imagine making a fuss over an A- vs. an A either. But I can imagine fighting for a deserved recognition. </p>
<p>Perhaps, you know, to some people it really means something to get to give a commencement address to an audience of a few thousand....</p>
<p>abcd: I agree, especially if it is backed up by corresponding SATII scores, AP exams etc. I would even put it over being a valedictorian, since the latter can have a subjective element in it. As in Hanna's example, a personal conflict with a teacher can result in A-, and here goes your perfect GPA.</p>