HELP! Is being in the top 10 (1-2%) of hs class really important?

<p>How do they know who the valedictorians are? Don't schools have different methods in identifying their valedictorians? Also, doesn't this happen in the last few weeks for their senior year. I am curious about this 40% of the valedictorians who applied statement statistics. Any thoughts on what might be going on here?</p>