Hi everybody! I am currently a high school senior. I was always in the most advanced courses in my school, and I have been at the top of my class since freshman year. I am going to graduate in June this year, and I’m really stressing out about the position of being valedictorian. I was number 1 freshman year, number 2 sophomore year, and junior year ranking was not revealed. I don’t really have much of a problem with my ranking, but the student who is ahead of me in the rankings did not take all the most advanced classes in the school. In fact, this student took easier courses in freshman and sophomore year. Meanwhile, me and the rest of the people in honors classes have been working so hard these past years in these advanced courses. I think it’s unfair if that student ahead of me in the rankings is valedictorian since he took the easier route to get to that position. It’s unfair to me and the rest of the people in honors classes. What do you guys think? Should I fight for co-valedictorian? What are your thoughts? Please no negative comments; this issue has been stressing me out a lot and negative comments will just discourage me from doing anything. Thank you.
After high school nobody cares who got valedictorian. So your school ranks by unweighted GPA? There are schools that rank by weighted GPA instead, and certainly there are students unhappy with that system too (“He got lower grades!! So what if he took a couple more APs than me, I got higher grades so I should be #1!”).
Do your best and enjoy whatever rank you end up with.
@FangsDizzydorf I was valedictorian in my HS, and while it was fun and all, the fact that you were valedictorian doesn’t really matter once you enter college.
In the end, GPA calculations are numbers. I know for sure at my HS weighted grades were on a 5.0 scale due to APs and Dual Credit. I met a girl whose 4 years in HS was 20-30% regular classes… and she beat me by at least 10 ranks.
As others said, being HS valedictorian doesn’t matter once you’re a student in college. It’s a status that only benefits you if you’re trying to get scholarships or something like that.
My opinion is that you focus on your own academic endeavors and personal life. I’ve had friends who destroyed themselves because they couldn’t let go of their egos or personal fixations.
‘‘Easier route’’ depends on the person. Sure, the easier route for you may have been the course path that your valedictorian took but it may have been challenging for him at the time. Considering that he decided to take more advanced classes junior and senior year, it tells me that he over time decided to increase course rigor; usually, it’s the opposite way. And if it is by weighted, the advanced students had advantages over him freshman & sophomore year, a student with a B could have matched any A’s that he had. It tells me that they have done well consistently.
@HeyItsNick it’s not about jealousy or any envy. I put all emotions aside and focused on the logic of the situation. It’s fighting for fairness in the system
Different schools have different ways of calculating Valedictorian. I think the best system is one that designates certain classes (those taken by nearly every student) be included in the calculation. That way those taking more are not penalized and students are not taking or avoiding classes for the sole purpose of becoming the Valedictorian.
I think going through school with a major goal of beating out peers is a bad value. It is a disincentive to take academic risks. It is a disincentive to cooperate and promote your peers. It is a disincentive for so many things that I think have inherent value, which I don’t think being valedictorian does. The very best students I’ve known have not been the valedictorians.
The very goal of being the valedictorian is anti-intellectual. It is all about chasing goodies. It’s the grown up equivalent to giving kids M&M’s for completing their work instead of spending time explaining to that child why the work itself has meaning and why it is so interesting and trying to engage the child’s intellect, curiosity and inherent thirst for knowledge. Yeah those are lofty goals but they are achieved by those people in the lives of many of the students in top colleges.
Of course academics come so easily to some students that they are valedictorians without trying to beat out peers or making it a major goal. In other words, when the GPA’s are calculated they happen to have the highest GPA. But most valedictorians have spent the lion’s share of their academic career doing what the OP did-chasing points and grades. And then, when someone else following the same rules ends up on top, the OP screams foul. Well maybe your peers feel that way about the grades in each class. Many of the best students are not the ones with the top grades. But they are the ones that top colleges are most interested in because their motivation is inherent.
The game of grades and points ends at graduation. Then what? Your self worth and your movement to your degree will have to be fueled by something else. Are you prepared for that? More than one valedictorian has not been, and threw herself off the side of a building. Was that the reason? Not entire but I am sure it contributed. When all your goodies are about being the “best” and you are not that any longer, what do you do? Most find ways to redirect or they continue to work towards being number one. But some have no answer to the simple question “What are you interested in?” because it has not occurred to them to consider that. School was about grades and competition not about topics, subjects and understanding why the world is as it is and how it could be better.
You have spent a lot of time and effort playing the valedictorian game. You apparently did not win. It is a flawed game but not for the reasons you are suggesting. It is probably time to refocus and move towards a goal that is more meaningful.
And to answer your question, no, you should not fight for valedictorian. The rules were explicit. He won. There is no justifiable reason to counter his position. If you think the rules are unfair, you can work to change them for future students. Note that you did not fight to change things when you felt you were Number 1. It is possible that fighting this would necessitate a re-evaluation of being 1st in the past. Perhaps there were others that were rated lower but had taken more difficult classes than you had. Fighting for valedictorian would be viewed as “sour grapes” by everyone, even those closest to you, although they may not admit it to you. All it would do is deprive the person who is now listed as #1 that designation. But you will always know that you did not really earn that designation. And even if you get some satisfaction with depriving your peer of his valedictorian status, you won’t look back on your fight as being your finest hour. Move on.
It really, really doesn’t matter in life. At my kids’ high school, the Val didn’t have better college admissions results than students several places behind them in class rank. It isn’t like you put it on your resume as an adult. Let it go.
It feels unfair to you and perhaps it is unfair. D1 didn’t make NHS because our HS uses unweighted GPA so she probably would have made it if she hadn’t take so many honor and AP classes. It did bother her senior year and I actually agree that it penalizes kids who take more advanced courses, which sounds like the same case for you. That said, the old cliche is true - such is life. It doesn’t always seem fair. You can certainly talk to your adviser but I’d have one conversation and then drop it and be happy for the great job you did and then forget about it. I bet D1 hasn’t thought once since graduation about missing out on NHS and it didn’t make an iota of difference in her college experience. Life will hand you many disappointments - hold your head up and act with integrity and maturity, keep looking ahead and you will be fine.
I also want to add that sometimes there is more to just grades when picking valedictorians. There may be a great and inspiring reason the other student was picked. Don’t be bitter, move on.
Valedictorian is just a label. Like many labels, there is subjectivity in how it’s applied. It only has as much meaning and importance as you give it.
Did you make the most of high school? Learn what you could academically and socially? Did you try your best and still had some fun most days? If you answered yes, then you already have won what matters most. If you answered no, then you have lost more than the label of Valedictorian and you should really be sure to reprioritize when you start college.
Don’t let bitterness or hurt ruin the rest of your senior year in high school. You won’t get that time back. The pinnacle of your success in life shouldn’t be high school valedictorian.
It doesn’t matter.
It’s like being proud of being the kid who got the most gold stars in 1st grade. It matters to the kid, at the moment. But looking back, it’s just one of these cute things you do as a kid.
Did you apply to a scholarship just for valedictorians/Salutatorians?
If not, then, well, sure you deserved it, but the moment you get into college, that’s what matters.
High school graduation will be a time for good bye, the start of that in-between time between the rest of your life and your childhood. Plus, who wants to deliver the valedictorian speech? In your mind, you’ll be half gone already.
You’re going to go to college - you applied to a wide list, you got into a few that are affordable, you are moving on, you’re ready to do what it takes to succeed. That’s what matters.
