<p>Hey guys, the problem at my high school is that they do not weight your GPA to find out your rank. Basically this means that any kid who is taking the easiest classes can pull off ( and they do) a 96+ GPA EASILY. A friend of mine has a 97 GPA who is taking the easiest courses and is ranked top 5% in our high school, but kids who have a 91 GPA( like me) are in the top 25% because there do not weight your average to figure out class rank. My school does not weight averages at all - but that isn't the problem, the problem is that my school doesn't weight it to figure out your class rank and it is very very unfair. How could I let the college i am applying to know about this? Should I ask my Counselor to include that I would be ranked top 5% if my school weighted averages? Thank you! What should I do!?</p>
<p>should be in the school profile that guidance sends to colleges with your transcript</p>
<p>Oh thanks!</p>
<p>We feel your pain!</p>
<p>A lot of schools make everyone's grades unweighted anyway so you will be fine. Also they look at how hard your courses are and how you did in them more than class rank. I don't think you have anything to worry about! Good luck :)</p>
<p>I agree with ReachforDreams.</p>
<p>Class rank isn't the only factor considered. Your school will indicate that ranks were based on unweighted GPAs. This isn't an indicator of who worked the hardest so like you said, a person could take super easy classes and get all A's and be validictorian under such a system.</p>
<p>Just challange yourself with the most difficult classes you can, work on extracurriculars which interest you, and have fun! No worries. ;)</p>
<p>~ Theos</p>
<p>Same deal at our HS. The information will be included in the school profile. I disagree with the above posters: it stinks, and it definitely handicaps kids who take the hardest courses and don't necessarily get straight As when applying to the most selective schools. The least they could do is not rank if they aren't going to weight.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, there is nothing you can do about it but take the courses that interest and challenge you, and have fun with your ECs. Good luck!</p>
<p>"I disagree with the above posters: it stinks, and it definitely handicaps kids who take the hardest courses and don't necessarily get straight As when applying to the most selective schools."</p>
<p>I didn't say it doesn't stink, because it does.
.....and I am in the same situation also.</p>
<p>The same exact thing happened to me. Even though I was taking the hardest classes and pulling off a 3.9 I was still barely even in top 40. I think colleges catch onto that though and it's usually in the school profile.</p>
<p>You could ask your GC to add how your classes were harder and that was why you had a lower rank in the recommendation....</p>
<p>
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You could ask your GC to add how your classes were harder and that was why you had a lower rank in the recommendation....
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</p>
<p>I'd advise against that. A kid I know was rejected from ALL of the schools to which he originally applied: it turned out that the GC had written something just like that. </p>
<p>If the GC is saying, "X would have been the val, not just in the top 5%" it's one thing. If the GC is saying "X would have been in the top 50%" it's another. :)</p>
<p>^ What? That situation is inapplicable to the OP. The GC would obviously write, "X would have been in the top 5%." Not top 50%...</p>
<p>I can't imagine that bearing a negative impact on the OP's app.</p>
<p>nee: Upon furhter reflection, the reality in this case is that the GC will not know precisely what the rank "would have been" unless s/he recalculates everyone's rank using a hypothetical weighting system that does not exist. Which isn't going to happen. </p>
<p>So s/he is playing with fire in urging the GC to talk about it.</p>
<p>What may happen if the GC refers to the OP's rank as currently calculated and makes a vague statement about it being potentially "higher" in a weighted system--since s/he cannot say anything specific in the absence of everyone being recalculated--is simply that more attention is drawn to the fact that the OP isn't in the top 10% or top 20& or whatever NOW. </p>
<p>And that is precisely what happened to the kid I know who was rejected everywhere: the GC said that it was an achievement to be ranked where he was given that he chose to challenge himself with honors and AP classes, thus not only revealing but emphasizing his non-stellar rank.</p>
<p>It doesn't really matter -- colleges don't weight rank THAT much in their decisions. They use it to make reasonable comparisons If a kid has a 3.9 GPA but is ranked in the top 25% of his class because the school doesn't use weighted GPAs (which is stupid to me -- that's the whole point of weighted GPAs, yes?), and everything else checks out (SAT score, extracurriculars, essays, etc.) they'll be fine.</p>
<p>What they're looking for are the kids who are in the top 25% with a 3.9 because a 3.9 is ridiculously easy to get at a school, because of grade inflation. With the advent of weighted grades a 3.9 doesn't mean the same thing from school to school -- for a kid who takes mostly honors classes and AP classes that are weighted on a 5 point scale, that could mean a Cs and Bs kid. That's why they ask your counselor to fill out that form. As long as he or she does it correctly, you'll be fine.</p>