<p>In my messed up school district, I can basically choose between class rank and taking the classes I want to take (i.e. college math classes, more APs, etc.). Essentially, the more rigorous I make my schedule, the lower my class rank goes (NOT because I can't keep straight As; the weighting system favors those who follow the recommended schedule. It's really messed up...)
Let's say my class rank right now would be in the top 1-5 out of ~300 (it probably won't be 1 because of a honors-credit discrepancy that didn't get resolved). If I take the math class I
want to take at the local CC and if I skip out of a couple requisites to take more APs, it may drop to 20-25 (still top 10%).
Should I take the courses I want? Will colleges see the fact that my schedule is FAR more rigorous than the people with higher class rank?</p>
<p>I say, take the classes you want to take and explain to colleges on your college app your school’s ranking system.</p>
<p>How would I say that without coming off sounding pretentious or disparaging? “My school doesn’t know how to weight grades correctly so my rank is lower than what it deserves to be” would probably sound conceited from an adcom’s point of view…</p>
<p>Just say something like:</p>
<p>My school’s ranking system is based off of students’ unweighted GPAs. Because of this, taking challenging classes, such as AP classes, tends to lower one’s GPA, as it is harder to maintain an A in these classes. Though I’ve tried to maintain excellent grades in my more challenging classes, this may not be reflected greatly by my rank due to my school’s ranking system.</p>
<p>Say something along the lines of, “My school district has a specialized way for calculating class rank which I feel is important to bring to your attention. My school’s rating system favors those who take the school’s recommended classes. This left me with the choice of taking the recommended classes to get a higher rank or to take more challenging classes that I truly enjoyed; I chose the latter. Sadly this has had a negative effect on my class rank, yet I saw it as a necessary sacrifice to further my education.”</p>
<p>Basically, don’t blame your school, insult it’s system, or imply you deserved a higher rank. All you need to do is explain the system and how and why you chose what you did. If your tone appears upset, then you’ll look conceited.</p>
<p>@my88keys That would be a valid statement, except it isn’t true. It doesn’t have anything to do with how hard the classes are and what grades I receive in them (which is the classic grades vs. rigor question). A perfect example is how if I take Class XYZ in school, I receive honors weighting, but if I take it over the summer at my CC, it isn’t weighted (even if it’s twice as rigorous). Thus, the non-weighted class brings down my WGPA. Obviously, I could not report the class to my GC, but then I wouldn’t be adding rigor to my transcript…
@cornball Your example seems perfect; it doesn’t come off as conceited or vain.
Is it worth getting my GC to point it out in her letter of rec?
(Btw I’m working with administration to push forward a better WGPA/CR system; however, it seems as if progress has stalled. The system is too bureaucratic to make changes easily…)
Also, how low of a class rank is considered too low for respectability? For every extra class I take, I will be docked, so how low (%) should I stop at to preserve a respectable class rank?</p>
<p>On college Common Data Sets, “rigor of secondary school record” is usually given more weight than class rank in admissions. (But they’re not all the same, so look at the Common Data Sets for the colleges you want to apply to.)
Any class rank in the top 10% is probably fine regardless, unless you’re trying to get merit scholarships at larger, less holistic schools (some of them have a class rank requirement). If your class rank goes lower than that, have your GC explain it in their recommendation letter.</p>
<p>Just keep in mind that at many competitive high schools, AP courses are MORE rigorous than their CC counterparts. So if you take CC classes instead of AP classes, you really are taking the easy way out. Now if you finished the APs and took even more advanced college courses afterwards, that is another story. </p>
<p>Then your statement would follow the text above, but be even more detailed, adding in, "While my unweighted GPA was not affected, I want to bring to your attention a quirk of my high school’s class weighing system that has worked against my class rank. For ranking purposes, my high school weights honors and AP classes but not college coursework taken off site. As such, the college-level multivariable calculus and differential equations classes I took at Local College were weighted as regular rather than advanced classes. The result is that my class rank dropped from top 2% to top 8%. (Just be sure the numbers you use are correct.)</p>
<p>@halycoln I have heard that colleges realize how minute the differences typically are within the top 10% of students.
@Texas I plan on taking all/most of the APs my school offers. However there are a couple college classes at the CC that I really want to take (multivariable, discrete, more advanced chemistry, etc).
I do want to point out that CC classes can receive weighting (if appealed). The reason class rank drops is two-fold:
- Trying to fit in more classes requires skipping/testing-out of required classes, which is the real WGPA killer.
- Taking more classes than a standard course load is also counterproductive against WGPA because any extra class does not receive weighted grading. IMO, this is EXTREMELY stupid and I am trying to get this revised, but the administration people don’t realize how tremendous an impact one or two unweighted credits can have…
My school isn’t too competitive, so I’m a little afraid that having a relatively low rank (in terms of ivies <5%) might hurt me more than the rigor of additional classes will help me…</p>
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<p>Yeah, so I think it might be overkill to “explain” your class rank if it’s in the top 10% anyway. Not sure, though…if you believe that a college makes a distinction between top 5% and top 10%, then you should explain it. For college admissions, you shouldn’t let the class rank system stop you from taking any classes you want…they’re not going to penalize you for getting As in the most challenging possible classes. The only reason to worry about it is, again, for “formulaic” merit scholarships where you need a specific class rank to be eligible.</p>