<p>so .. i go to a pretty small public high school, about 500 total enrolled
and my grade is probably the most competitive out of each grade, seriously .. and i think it may be the largest grade
alright so my goal was to become valedictorian, it's not too hard here, you have to take 8 APs (that's all we have) or 7 APs and a governor's school class that would substitute for an AP
I chose to take 7 APs, drop AP Spanish, because the spanish program at my school is horrible .. so I knew I wouldn't do well on that AP test, and anatomy & physiology as a governor's school class
It all works out because I want to go on to the medical field in the future.
2 girls found out my schedule somehow
And I dont really care, it's just irritating how they found out my schedule specifically .. and then I found out that they want to copy my "plan" so they can become val too.
Both of these girls have more enemies than friends, not a lot of people enjoy their company, they're just really annoying in general. They always want people to help them and if someone asks them for help, they refuse. And so on the first day of school, one of the girls asked me what classes I was taking.. and i told her some of them .. cuz i didnt really feel like talking to her .. and then she said "oh guess what sarah! i found out you were taking anatomy and i'm taking it with you!"
And then today the other girl called me and told me she was also switching into the anatomy class after someone told her i was taking it. And it's quite evident that they're taking this class because I'm taking it.
So they'll probably become val too. And then there's me. AND then another guy. I dont think my school has ever had 4 vals in one year. Another interesting fact .. the girl that called me and the guy both had sisters in the same previous 2 years who were valedictorians for that year.
Anyway I can see both of these girls asking me next year what colleges I'll apply to .. and I was talking to the val from last year, good friend of mine, and she told me people asked her for her schedule all the time and she said that I shouldn't feel like I should tell anyone my classes if i don't want to and she told me not to tell anyone what colleges you were applying to .. ever.
And then I asked my parents what they thought of this, and they said not to worry, it doesn't matter what classes they take .. and in the end, after high school, there won't be someone there to mold their life for them.
What do you all think of this? Was I wrong to tell them some of my classes .. will colleges look at 4 vals from 1 small public high school in a bad way?</p>
<p>My school had like 20+ vals, including myself. I got into Penn, Yale, Columbia, Brown, Georgetown, UVA, Tufts, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Lehigh, etc. As long as you do your best you will be just fine. Shared rank means they don't know if you are at the top of that shared rank or at the bottom (ie. would you be rank 1 or rank 4, truly?). As long as you have "rank 1" on your application, you can't do much better. If you are a strong applicant, it'll show through.</p>
<p>sarorah, I know how you feel. This happened to me also. Even though your situation produces 4 valedictorians, it shouldn't matter. (just like the post above) Even becoming valedictorian is not important. The adcoms would never know until after the application process.</p>
<p>The honors track at my school is CRAZY competitive. Everybody else is pretty chill, but the 30-50 kids in honors out of 300 a class...so many of them are insane. We're a school with 15-20 APs, super high test scores, and tons of EC activities. </p>
<p>My school doesn't rank, so this guy and a girl got together and calculated the GPAs of the students they thought would be top 10-15 people. I have no idea how they got my grades/schedules or the grades/schedules of my friends (it's possible--we're all in the same classes and know who the brilliant ones are and which teachers like who), but they came into school one day and went around telling people "We think you're probably number 5. Cause you got that A in AP Chem, right?"</p>
<p>It's absofreakinglutely crazy. College acceptance time will be INSANE. I almost look forward to seeing the massacre. I'm competitive too, but I've accepted that top college admissions are essentially random even if you're a fantastic student. Plus knowing what another person's GPA is won't make mine any lower or higher, so why bother.</p>
<p>Well, last year's val, the girl I talked to, shared the rank with another girl.. but she may have truly deserved it cuz she took all of the APs and so many of the governor's school classes while the other girl took anatomy too and 7 other APs. So in the end, unlike last year, all 4 of us are probably equal cuz we're taking the same amt of more ranked classes .. but on graduation day, I'll say my speech first just cuz my last name comes first in the alphabet. We could never have 20+ vals, because the top 10 in my school can only be 10 people. So it will be us 4, and then 6 other people .. which is kinda unfair, but at this point i've accepted that life frankly isn't that fair. . </p>
<p>Actually, reading your all stories makes mine kinda seem weak.. with you all having 20 aps and 20+ vals, etc and i've read stories on here where people work harder than the val but the one that took all of the easy classes get it or something .. geez so much drama in high school, i wish some people would just take a chill pill</p>
<p>My school is on a block schedule and weights AP and honors classest he same. Seems like a lot of people take advantage of the system instead of taking the classes they want. A lot of people want to abolish the whole valedictorian system.</p>
<p>sarorah, dont your "friends" have to do well in the classes to become valedictorian? And if they will do just as well as you, then why do you feel they don't deserve it.</p>
<p>are you sure you'll all be valedictorian? your points may differ by like .05 of a percent, leaving only one person as valedictorian. if i were you, i wouldn't tell anyone else my schedule, and ESPECIALLY NOT where i'm applying to. just study your ass off and hopefully you'll be valedictorian. dont stress to much about your competition, just work your hardest and keep reaching for your goal.</p>
<p>Yeah, just work as hard as possible and do better on everything else. That's the mentality that I've been forced to take, because my school has almost a standardized schedule throughout high school, besides AP Spanish Lit (which only natives take). This coupled with grade inflation makes me very frustrated sometimes because I know that AP Spanish Lit class will create so much separation (.05 in a cumulative GPA will be a lot). I've come to realize that as long as I fall within a good perentile in my class, score higher on SATs, and have better EC's, that I don't have to scheme so much and worry about my GPA being .05 or whatever less than valedictorian.</p>
<p>wow
there's this girl in my school who was valedictorian back in 9th grade
i chose this business org. and management course thats like the only honors practical arts elective course and she asks what period im in that class so that she can change her schedule to accomodate that class too</p>
<p>Hm, we don't rank, but we basically know that the valedictorian is going to be this one girl who got a 99 or 100% in LA and had an average above 100% in math. She takes the hardest classes and does well in them very easily.</p>
<p>I've already eliminated myself from the running for salutatorian because a few people have had grades consistently a few points higher than mine in almost all our classes (we decide val/sal based on who had the highest averages in all their classes).</p>
<p>Anyway, there really isn't any fierce competition here. Everyone with like a 4.5 WGPA and up are all best friends in the same clique and all.</p>
<p>And we all have scheduling conflicts no matter what we take. I've had at least one each year now :(.</p>
<p>no no, i dont think they dont deserve it, it just ***es me off that they feel they have to copy *me to get in the spotlight or something. god blessed them with a brain, they can think for themselves. and there won't be a .5 difference, because here, if you get an A, let's say a 93, and someone else gets an A, a 105 for example, both kids get the same credit added to their GPA. i know, another unfair thing about the system .. we should abolish it, i agree. and unfortunately our school isn't all "lets be friends and hug", there's a lot of angst between students and some teachers, so there are a lot of fights . . but thanks for the words of comfort, i guess this is more common than i thought</p>
<p>As difficult as it may be, try to realize that it doesn't matter. People who are anal about grades like that won't get anywhere in life. I know it sounds like some "obvious phrase" that everyone hears but never listens to, but it makes sense. They will never take charge of themselves, but rather they will be stuck trying to meet external standards. Unfortunately that is a very sad way to go. </p>
<p>As long as you do your best and worry about only yourself, it won't matter if you share your rank with a couple obsessed losers. There was this kid in my Computer Science class who copied everything I did because he was so desperate to become valedictorian. Sure, he made it, but should I tell you where he's going to college? :) The truly weak will remain weak because they only know how to copy those that know what they're doing. And in that sense, you will always be ahead of them.</p>
<p>Not everyone who gets into top schools is valedictorian, so even if you are rank 7, it won't hurt you, honestly. You'll be just fine :)</p>
<p>I really didn't read the whole thread but from your post I think you are sweatin with this a bit too much. So what if they join your classes? Let them do what they want. Competition brings out the fire in people! Let it bring out the fire in you, and who knows, you can do better then you ever expected just because you know someone else like them is going to be on your tail aiming at the same prize.</p>
<p>If I were you I would embrace the competition and take it as a challenge. :) Good luck!</p>
<p>I can't comprehend this business of having 20 vals. We always have exactly one. It's not calculated just from grades, there's a lot of other stuff taken into account. Anyways, the teachers form a committee and decide on just ONE person.</p>
<p>Yeah competition does bring 'the fire in people' as a-san said lol. This new girl came into NEARLY ALL my classes, causing a stir with 'my spot'. I got so angry and I studied hard. In this test, I got a couple of points more than her and she tried to persuade the teacher that her wrong answer was 'right'. And tried to earn extra points. And she couldnt. So she went to the bathroom and cried. Poor Poor Poor girl :)</p>
<p>LOL! NoFX strange that u have sympathy for ur rival. Idk maybe i'm just too coldhearted towards my rivals. I can't really comment on competitiveness since my school sort of is but there's no following other people's schedules because we have like 22 APs and so many subjects to choose from. I would recommend u to just cool off. Valedictorian doesn't really matter THAT much unless u r applying to that kind of scholarship or u want to give the commencement speech. They can't copy ur essay and that is all that matters in college admissions.</p>
<p>I think that is ridiculous. Really in all honesty who the **** cares if people want to take the same classes as you. If you are going to be such an ass about it than that just shows what kind of character you have.</p>
<p>There's an easy way to solve your problem Sarah.</p>
<p>Just get 94's in all your classes and don't worry about overachieving. That way you can slack off and still get A's. =)</p>
<p>She's mad about her pride being stolen. Who wants to share valedictorian status with two other people? It's something people look back on - instead of saying "I was the valedictorian of my class" she'll have to say "I was a valedictorian of my class"</p>