<p>What is considered more important? Class rank or GPA?</p>
<p>If I have a low gpa (3.75ish) and a high class rank (top 3%) would it hurt a lot?</p>
<p>this is the only place where anyone would think thats bad -_-</p>
<p>I would say GPA just because class rank depends so much on the specific school. A person could get all A’s and have 4 ap classes but be # 40 at a private school where as a person at a lesser school could only have 1 or 2 and have a high class rank.</p>
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<p>That doesn’t make any sense…</p>
<p>Colleges look at your GPA/rank within the context of your high school. If you go to a fancy pants private school colleges will know that, so they will be more lenient with your rank or grades (those schools tend to be more challenging than bad public schools). If you go to a bad public school, on the other hand, colleges will be less lenient with your GPA/rank. They would want an applicant to be one of the top few ranked, considering they face weaker competition.</p>
<p>this is why many school districts are doing away with rank. Students play games with it.</p>
<p>Some take 4 APs or Honors weighted more heavily than standard.
Then they take 3 standard and a study hall. One of their standards may be gym which does not figure into GPA. Their GPA weighted will be higher than the student taking same 4 AP or HOnors classes, waiving lunch to take 8 graded hours… one may be gym but still,
Given that all are As - the student with the study Hall is ranked higher. It’s BS.</p>
<p>Throw in a class taken Pass Fail and you have your Valedictorian. Luckily colleges are catching on and as I said, many school districts are just going Magna Cum Laude and Cum Laude… no rank. Much more sense.</p>
<p>My point was just that a person going to a lesser school could have a 3.0 gpa and be #1 class rank just because of a lack of competition where as a student having a 3.0 gpa at a more competitive private school could be #100 in the class. I feel like colleges see that and gpa is more universal and a better reflection of the student rather than a reflection of the rest of the school.</p>
<p>^ But that’s not how it works. Less competitive schools don’t have lower average GPAs, most schools have an average of like 3.1-3.4 (depends on weighting system). Less competitive schools make it easier to get higher grades, but the less competitive students balance out the easiness to achieve higher grades, and an average of 3.1-3.4 is achieved.</p>
<p>I got to a pretty competitive public school (avg. SAT is around 1800, national avg. is around 1500) and no one has a perfect GPA. One kid who got a 2360 has like a 4.5 (out of 5), and he is probably at the top of our class. I know he doesn’t have a perfect 4.0 unweighted because I know he got an A- last year. He doesn’t have perfect grades because our school is pretty tough, so the competitiveness of the school and the students balance out.</p>
<p>Ok. You may be right but I know that I go to a good public school where the average gpa is around 5.0 (4.0 for an A in CP, 5.0 for an A in honors, 6.0 for an A in AP/IB) and I believe our valedictorian has a 5.7. I have a friend who is valedictorian at a school near mine with a reputation for not being as good and her gpa is around a 4.8. She has worked very hard in junior/senior year but never took any APs as a sophomore and has gotten her fair share of B’s. Maybe its different where you live but at least at my school and in my district it is easier to have a higher class rank at a less competitive school.</p>
<p>Your average GPA is a 5, which is an A in an honors class? That’s some massive grade inflation right there…</p>
<p>But it’s obviously easier to have a higher class rank in an easier school. Less competition = you are better than your peers = higher rank.</p>
<p>It seems to me that what adcoms really want to know is your unweighted GPA and your weighted rank.</p>
<p>Weighted GPA is not very useful because every school has their own weighting system … but within a given school, weighted rank tells them how you compare to your peers.</p>
<p>As ldavis said, many schools are doing away with rank. Their reasons for doing this are debatable … I still think that if they could get it, adcoms would want unweighted GPA and weighted rank from every applicant.</p>
<p>Correlation: Higher GPA = higher class rank. Enough said. The OP is worried too much over a High GPA. I assume he want to get into an IVY… sigh</p>
<p>-_- a gpa of 3.75ish is actually good especially if you take mostly honors and ap classes. but gpa is more important. Class rank differs from school. You could be in the top 10% of your class with a 3.5, but top 50% with the same gpa. colleges look at course work as well. It sounds like your stressing a lot and my advice is to stay calm. If you worry too much about grades your youth will be wasted. Im not saying dont pressure yourself but too much will cause you to have a harder time of studying</p>
<p>** posted on another thread as well**</p>
<p>This is a bad subject with me… Students play games with study halls and Pass/Fail options to increase their class rank. Unversities are catching on,
as are School Districts. Many near me are going “Magna Cum Laude” and “Cum Laude” recognizing top 1% and top 5 or 10 % only… no rank.
Got this email from my own School District this am:</p>
<p>"On Tuesday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m. ******** will hold the community next meeting. This meeting will focus our high schools and what is required for students to be prepared for success in college.</p>
<p>Among the topics to be discussed will be class rank and myths regarding college admissions. "</p>
<p>Too late for my kids ( they will start with kids in Middle School) but glad they are seeing the light.</p>
<p>Here is an interesting article on Schools doing away with Class Rank: </p>
<p>[St</a>. Charles schools may eliminate class ranking - DailyHerald.com](<a href=“http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120417/news/704189910/]St”>http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120417/news/704189910/)</p>
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I was talking about my unweighted gpa. high unweighted gpa with all low level classes does not equal a higher class rank.</p>
<p>^^ Are you sure? At an UW school a person could get A in every classes and be above someone who have a lower GPA… Unless I miss something, You stand corrected.</p>
<p>an UW GPA = A in an AP is the same as an A in Standard. No bonus points for “rigorous” schedule. This is why most schools use Weighted for admission ( rank) and UW for $$.</p>