<p>So i'm curious as to what you guys think about this situation;</p>
<p>I'm a rising senior (well, still a junior, two more weeks to go), and at the midway point of this year, I had a 3.0 UW/4.0 W, and was ranked in the top 55% (rank is by weighted and IS reported to everyone and shows up on our transcripts). By the end of this year it should be 3.3UW/4.3 W and by senior year my weighted will creep closer to 5 (maybe 4.7, nobody knows how weighting work).</p>
<p>Obviously i'm not a stellar student (I am now, but wasn't my underclassmen years), but I haven't done terrible, yet by now i've barely fit myself into the top half of my class (our class is 217 at the midyear point). Very few AP's are offered here, and it is not the norm to be taking them. The most AP's anyone in our class has taken this year is 3, and we all thought she was crazy (and even still, she is probably not in the top 5% due to her lack of caring in non-AP courses). Given the de-emphasis of AP courses and how even great students end up with low ranking, what does that say to a college?</p>
<p>In other words, how do I look compared to a kid with the same stats, but ends up with a much higher class rank? Do you think that would reflect positively or negatively on the student with the lower rank, given that they did the best they could to be competitive in their school? I already kind of have an answer figured out but I think this is more of an opinion question.</p>
<p>if they had the same stats they wouldn’t have a higher class rank…
and top 55% is reallly bad either
- Your grades are too bad
- Your classes aren’t challenging enough (Honors, AP)</p>
<p>You’ll get in somewhere the cut off for most colleges is top half, but i don’t really see them picking from the low of that half</p>
<p>Talking comparitively between schools - I think I saw a post once where a kid was in the top 2% of his class and here he’d be in the same 5% bracket as I am.</p>
<p>All I know is all of my classes are level 4, and that’s the highest in sciences, foreign languages, and some maths. We do levels and some classes have AP instead of level 5. Generally you take level 4’s and a level 5 or AP if you can. Next year i’m taking a level 5 class in addition to my 4’s.</p>
<p>Our weighting system is a mess.</p>
<p>I guess what i’m saying is, does my low rank make me look terrible while a kid from another school with the same stats as me would have a higher rank because his class is less competitive?</p>
<p>I don’t mean to sound harsh, and don’t take this the wrong way, but I highly doubt you (or “a kid” in this case) would have a higher rank at a different school with the same stats. Your rank pretty much corresponds with your stats.</p>
<p>So, no one makes you look terrible. Personally, I think only a very small percentage of high schools are less competitive than your school (Taking 3 AP classes is rigorous? Not at most schools). If you’re concerned about your rank, you still have one semester left to pull up your rank and grades. Take one or two online classes and really try your best this fall. It’s your last chance to show colleges what you’ve got.</p>