<p>It was easy back when at my old HS - you got your class rank, you were told how many students were in your class, bingo, that was it. You could easily calculate if you were in the top 10% or not, etc. An A was a 4.0, an A in an honors course was a 5.0, and an A in an AP course was a 6.0. I had a 4.2 GPA, which put me just under the top 10%, and I got into some top colleges.</p>
<p>My son's high school seems different from any others I've read or heard about, on CC or elsewhere:
- No published class rank number (not uncommon lately, from what I understand)
- Class rank is calculated based on your weighted GPA range, NOT how you compare directly to fellow students
- For example, a weighted GPA of 3.9 is apparently in the fourth decile (30% - 40%) for their school</p>
<p>And it gets weirder:
- An "A" in a regular class is 4.3 according to his GC; every "regular class" grade is bumped up by 0.3.</p>
<ul>
<li>An "A" in an honors OR an AP class is 5.0. So, you only get a <strong><em>0.7</em></strong> boost for honors OR AP!?!?!?</li>
</ul>
<p>I'm really having trouble understanding this system. I've been told "we're more difficult than most schools, so colleges know this and give our students 'extra points'". My only answer to "what is up with the 0.3 boost for regular classes?" is "that's the way we do it".</p>
<p>My questions are:
- Has anyone heard of this system? Does it make any sense at all?
- Would a college calculate their "own" version of my son's GPA, using a more common system, or would they say "oh, a 3.9 weighted, that STINKS!" and just reject him (and his classmates)?</p>
<p>The strange thing is that I've heard that the deciles do not change with each class, so 10th grade has the same deciles for the class of 2015 as they did for the class of 2014 etc. This means that although my son's B in AP Bio is in the top three grades in his class, there is some kind of comparison to "better years" not his own class so it looks bad.</p>
<p>Any help would be appreciated on clearing this up, or any way we could make sure he is not at a disadvantage with students from other high schools.</p>