<p>I am a sophomore who belongs to a very backwards school district. I live in an area that has a quickly declining population and graduation/passing rate, is pariah to surrounding cities and districts due to our reputation as a "dirty" and "ghetto" area, and all of that. My city doesn't really reflect coming from a good or wholesome background, and even the teachers admit that we are not attending "real" high school. There are many issues here that are worth fighting for, including our district being overrun by nepotism. Even with the low amount of APs offered at my school, I've had to miss out on many chances for AP courses I wanted to take because the teachers were so disreputable. </p>
<p>All whining aside, I'm working with what I've got so far. I'm an AP student with "fat chance but I'll try" Ivy aspirations and I work as hard as I can. I range from mid to high nineties usually, with the very occasional high B here and there and I'm involved in many, many extracurricular activities and sports. I'm tryin' here. I won't get into too many specifics, here's the point:</p>
<p>A school guidance counselor recently revealed to me something the majority of the students don't know- our school does not weigh averages yet still upholds class rankings and sending people on stage as valedictorians/salutatorians. She revealed the statistics of the students who got in the top 10 and 20% of the 2011 class- nearly none of them are AP students. The valedictorian did not take one advanced class and glided through seminars. Most were "smart" and took the lowest-level classes they could take, courses that were made up and barely funded by the school, such as Sports Medicine and Natural Disasters, which are easy 100s with haphazard staff.</p>
<p>With our low graduation rate, my school district favors those who are not cognitively or school-applicably adequate. For instance, I was almost shut out from taking my Global History and Geography Regents in January (I'm in AP Global and wanted to get it over with) because they said that they wanted the honors kids to hike the stats in June, which is when the scoring reports "really mattered". Most kids at my school take the Global History and Geography Regents more than once due to failure and they plan to use the few AP kids as backup. So, their acceptance of the lower-level students makes sense and they pay no attention to those who care.</p>
<p>Anyway, I've heard that a lot of AP kids at my school who are graduating got booted out of scholarships and a shot at good schools because of their low ranking. AP Kids who get low to mid nineties in their classes get the same or lesser credit than someone who takes a BS class like Natural Disasters. It's sad.</p>
<p>My guidance counselor told me to fight this. Should I worry? Will the Ivies care about my ranking? Are they accustomed to crumminess like this? I need some help. Sorry if I've done or said anything wonky, this is my first time posting and this looks like a great site.</p>