<p>This post is coming from someone whose school doesn't rank.</p>
<p>I'm curious as to why Class Rank matters to adcoms. You can't control how your peers do in a course, you can only control yourself. GPA and SAT are something that is in your power, Class Rank isn't. Why take this into account?</p>
<p>It SHOULDNT, in my opinion, and I'm glad my school is getting rid of it starting with my year (I have the option to report or not report).</p>
<p>I go to a large, super competitive high school, I get straight A's in all honors classes, but because I take Orchestra (a regular class), my class rank dropped fourty places (out of 700). Isn't that ridiculous? All that focus on weighted GPA prevents students from experimenting with electives and other classes like that, simply for the sake of being #1 in the class.</p>
<p>bump10char</p>
<p>It matters because a GPA is useless without that context. Highly selective colleges are looking for those that rise to the top in their environment.</p>
<p>^ agreed. I would think the reasoning is that If you aren't in the top 10% of a bad high school, you probably aren't in the top 10% of America, etc. It shows how well you can do within the context of a group</p>
<p>EDIT: that was playing devil's advocate</p>
<p>What hmom5 said.</p>
<p>Class Rank is just one of the many factors in an admissions decision. Colleges need to compare you to other students to wonder why you should get in over someone else.</p>
<p>I don't think class rank is a HUGE factor. Or at least, I hope not. To be frank, no one in my class thinks our valedictorian deserves his spot. He gets A-'s in nearly every class. In my school, an A+ and A- count for the same points toward GPA. The other top 5 of our class get solid A's, but didn't take as many weighted junior college classes as the val, so their rank is lower than "what it sound be."</p>
<p>GPA without a rank is pointless........</p>
<p>someone might only have a 90.0 average but be 5th in their class. you have to put the GPA in perspective since all schools are different.</p>
<p>Class rank standardizes the GPA. If one person has a 4.6 but isn't in the top 10 while another is the valedictorian with only 3.9, it suggests that the 3.9 GPA may be more impressive.</p>
<p>The weighting system is obviously a problem though, since it discourages EC's. My GPA is actually slightly lower than it should be because I got an A in a pass/fail class, and my GPA would have dropped further if my AcaDeca teacher hadn't given pass/fail grades.</p>
<p>just to let you guys know, our school's valedictorian applied to most of the ivy leagues, stanford, the uc schools, and a lot of the claremont colleges (i think he was really rich so he could afford all the apps), and got rejected to most of the colleges he applied to</p>
<p>You're a little thick....the whole idea of choosing who to admit to a school is based on ranking people (per se) in the applicant pool, so ranking people in their schools kinda relates....</p>
<p>Maybe you can control your SAT score, but your SAT score doesn't mean **** about how good you are until it's compared to others, whose scores you can't control.</p>
<p>^^ Good point.</p>
<p>Here's a personal example, my senior class is ranked according to weighted GPA. If a college were to look at my uw GPA (3.71) and a classmates (4.0), obviously he'd look better. However, my class rank shows I'm about 40 people ahead of him because I took AP classes whereas he stuck with the easiest courses and got easy a's. Out of context, he looks stronger, but in context, it shows I took the rigor and my class rank mends my GPA.</p>
<p>How about if the ranking system is based off of unweighted GPAs and you are in a class of 800 people? Now the vast majority of the people with a 3.9+ have rarely taken an AP class. Maybe a few at MAX. They take advanced courses at times and don't challenge themselves all that much. A person with let's say 10 APs might have a GPA of like 3.75 but be ranked 75th percentile at my school. Does this make any sense whatsoever?</p>
<p>collegeapp09: Your counselor should say that your GPA isn't weighted. This is when the college should discard or recalculate your GPA. In cases like this with holistic colleges, your rank should be weighted less and your other factors should be weighted more.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know that generally happens. I certainly hope so at least.</p>
<p>I was just making a point that class rank in that form is extremely flawed.</p>
<p>I heard schools are starting to drop labeling class rank because it harm students chances getting into universities. Schools that have drop class rank notice a increase in students attending college.</p>
<p>I would assume class rank was used for...
Example: Your class is 600 students. You have a 3.5 GPA and rank 450.</p>
<p>This may grab universities attention, and probably would look more into your school.</p>
<p>haha I'm ranked #1 with 37 others at my public high school of 1500 kids</p>
<p>Every measure by itself is somewhat flawed: grades, ACT, class rank, ECAs’. But the great colleges are combining all of the information. The class rank is just one more input.</p>
<p>Personally, I feel that some of the SAT II subject tests are the best indicator.</p>
<p>They need to know the context of your grades. You could have straight A’s in easy classes (if your school uses weighted grades to rank), or a whole slew of B’s in a super competitive school where you’re number one. (Of course, many competitive schools don’t rank to avoid to the top 10%-quasi-rule that colleges use in admissions.) But that’s the gist.</p>
<p>Basically, it puts your grades and course rigor in context. But it needs to be taken with a grain of salt (which I’d venture to say colleges know), since each ranking system has its flaws.</p>
<p>I was just readng how Harvard may go to SAT2 subject tests for Admissions rather than SAT/ACT etc etc because the SAT2s tell them what you know…and are far more standardized.</p>
<p>The class rank thing is a conundrum</p>
<p>Our student isn’t in the top 10% --but takes a very very heavy curriculum of honors, APs etc…
there are kids in the top 10 % who take all regular classes. Lots of As in reg will outweigh Bs in honors eventually…
The bright side–schools look at curriculum…
and the transcript has more As in AP classes this yr yippee!</p>
<p>Isn’t this why schools take apart transcripts–and then compare grades and rigor…</p>
<p>I know a young man–now a grad of Princeton–he ended up #2 instead of # 1 in hs because he took an unweighted course–He really wanted to take it but it cost him Valedictorian…</p>
<p>Evidently there are trciks to the GPA/weight thig–like anyone who takes a study hall wont make top 10% because of all the kids who take one extra course and do well…</p>
<p>i feel like the class rank is bull, just because youre lower on your class rank doenst mean that you didnt work hard in school becuase someone with a lower rank may have done more for their community as far as volunteer work and clubs then say someone who who is at the top of their class but didnt give back in any way.
i feel students who may be less gifted in academics fall behind and are over looked</p>