<p>A question from a friend:
How do you become valedictorian? Do you have to earn a 4.0 until the end of senior year to be one? </p>
<p>My high school had 32 seniors pending to be valedictorians, but somehow ended up with four?
How does this work?</p>
<p>So a 3.9 would be a saledictorian? Can there always be more than one for both?</p>
<p>depends on the school. some schools go strictly by gpa, the one with the highest gpa being val. my school selected one by waiting until everyone got into colleges and picking one out that got into the most "prestigious" one. yeah messed up, but what can i do.</p>
<p>i think its the top of the class</p>
<p>Depends on the school. My D's school does this: anyone with 4.325 gpa (honors worth 4.5, AP worth 5.0) or higher AND nothing lower than an A- in any class. D has higher gpa than some kids who will be valedictorian, due to a B. Seems stupid, since she obviously did better in a more difficult group of courses in order to have a higher gpa. But life isn't fair, and generally-speaking, the valedictorian designation doesn't matter (although her school's policy probably cost a student in a situation similar to hers admission at WashU last year, so sometimes it does make a difference).</p>
<p>Sounds like your friend's school went strictly by GPA. Maybe the top 4 were tied? And the next highest would be salutatorian, which could theoretically also be a tie if two students had the same GPA. Depends on how many places they take it out to--3.999 beats a 3.998 but at that point it gets to be an exercise in silliness.</p>
<p>At least at your schools the valedictorian isn't chosen by the votes from a popularity contest!</p>
<p>You get to be valedictorian by cheating and sucking up more than everyone else.</p>
<p>haha....
what does being valedictorian do?</p>
<p>we never had anything like that in school... we got a plain boring marks in % and the top 10 were ranked</p>
<p>you get val by making learning your utter passion. like in one of my classes, the lectures take twice as long because our val is always asking for explanations on things that we dont really need to know. im sure when he studies it takes him twice as long as well.</p>
<p>Hey-</p>
<p>I'm my school's val. I guess I can provide some insight. All schools do it differently, but my school uses only GPA to determine class rank. </p>
<p>Regular classes:
A=4
B=3
C=2
....</p>
<p>Honors(we have one)/AP(about twenty) classes:
A=5
B=4
C=3
....</p>
<p>So to get a good GPA, maximize your A's in AP classes and minimize other classes. Period. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to be val, so I modified my schedule to pack in the maximum amount of AP classes. For example, I spoke the the AP Computer Science teacher in freshman year to see if I could take the class without regular comp sci because I knew enough about programming - he said yes. I took the class (and got a 5 on the exam), and ever since the end of freshmen year, I've been at the top (with a few nipping at my heels). Talk to your guidance counselor - see if it is possible to cram another weighted course into your schedule by rearranging your classes.</p>
<p>I even wish I had done more planning in middle school. Latin IV in my school is weighted - so if I had done Latin instead of Spanish, I would have another 5 and one fewer 4 on my transcript. Anyways, Sophmore year I took 2 APs, Junior 7, and now, in Senior year, I've almost run out of applicable AP classes, so I'm taking Linear Algebra at a local college.</p>
<p>You MUST receive straight A's. Daunting? Yes. I've squeezed by the margin by fractions of a point before. The thing is, you get the same weight on your GPA if you get a 100 or a 90; an 89 or an 80.</p>
<p>Time planning. It's crucial. If you have one class where your grade is solid, and another where it's on the edge, devote your time to the class that you need to pull up your grade in. It would seem to be intuitive, but procrastination can actually be useful sometimes. You should always be on top of assignments that are due.</p>
<p>Constantly play with your grade. Plug in numbers of tests, homework, etc. Know what grade you have to get on that next quiz or test to ensure that you have an A. If you don't reach it, study harder. Try to get great grades in the beginning of a course, because it's only going to get harder. </p>
<p>So no cheating, no sucking up involved. Your teacher only records your grade-- you are responsible for it. I didn't find my high school classes to be too difficult, so don't get the impression that you have to be constantly involved in schoolwork to be val. Do ECs. I could have received upper As in some of my classes if I wanted to devote the time, but I made the decision that I could spend half the time studying, doing homework or writing papers in order to do other things that interested me. </p>
<p>Valedictorian is the top academic honor in a school. You aren't going to get it without working-- there are no loopholes or workarounds. You can maximize your shots at the best GPA by using the strategy I outlined above, but be prepared to do a lot of work. </p>
<p>And in the end, it's just a number. It's not going to get me into college (but it helps!).</p>
<p>EDIT: My grammar in this sucks. Excuse me. It's not meant to be a definitive guide. I'll stick around and clarify if needed.</p>
<p>do better than everyone else.</p>
<p>im a genius...</p>
<p>if u get 4.0 or higher (doesnt matter if u take AP's or not) ur an automatic valedictorian
last year in the senior class there were about 40 b/c they all took easy classes, like hardly ne honors, and aced all of it and got in
its so stupid</p>
<p>My school's different, because I know they definetely don't do it by the person with the highest GPA. Instead, I think you have an interview and have above a 3.5 or something like that...and a lot of ppl at my school apply.</p>
<p>Our school does it by GPA</p>
<p>A's are weighted like this:
AP/Dual Enrollment classes = 5.0
Honors = 4.5
Regular = 4.0</p>
<p>It doesn't necessarily mean you have to get straight A's though. My plan is to take a BUNCH of dual enrollment classes at a community college (easy A's...at least compared to AP's :D ) and a few AP's. </p>
<p>But, I'm never going to take any honors or non-honors classes in my junior and senior years...just pure AP and Community College courses. I go to a very competitive school, and I'll have to bring my GPA way up to graduate near the top (I definately would not get val though, one girl has secured that for herself by taking 5 AP's by 10th grade). For example, just this morning I read an article about a team of 4 students at my school (Edgewood Jr./Sr. High) who were selected to represent the United States in a hydrogen fuel-cell car competition in Hawaii.</p>
<p>STOPITSTOPITSTOPIT!</p>
<p>I'm rank one in my class, but I didn't get there because I wanted to be rank one! I got there because I LIKED taking those classes! Being rank one is a (welcome) benefit on the side, but cramming APs just for GPA...</p>
<p>That's base.</p>
<p>I do it to learn too. But I am not going to take AP's over dual enrollment. </p>
<p>Dual enrollment is weighted the same as AP's at my school, but they are much easier; they give you college credit and give you a better learning experience.</p>
<p>Thank God we have some sense in post #15!</p>
<p>My old HS has no valedictorian. That was because they were sued by the salutorian due to rounding to the ten-thousandths place with GPAs over 4.6. </p>
<p>Highest GPA in my class was like over 4.7, with APs/Honors being worth 5 pts. We had over 15% of our class have GPAs over 4.0 at at Top 30 Newsweek HS. </p>
<p>Terrible HS, too much competition, over 15% of our class got into Berkeley. Crazy for a public school.</p>
<p>PrescitedEntity:I'm rank one in my class, but I didn't get there because I wanted to be rank one! I got there because I LIKED taking those classes! Being rank one is a (welcome) benefit on the side, but cramming APs just for GPA... That's base.</p>
<hr>
<p>My defense? If I didn't do it, somebody else would. I'm just responding to how the system is set up, as I've outlined above. Seven out of of eight classes last year were weighted for me -- it definitely wasn't something I LIKED doing. I have much better ways to spend my time than to memorize the muscles in the human body.</p>
<p>I haven't liked many of my classes I've taken in high school. Period. High school isn't about taking the classes you like. Maybe you have a wider range of classes available in your school, but my graduating class has only around 350 students, so I take the best of what's offered.</p>
<p>I've faced the fact that most of my high school classes provide little to no intellectual stimulation. If you have a good work ethic, you can get good grades. It's that simple. I don't look to the classroom to learn - I look to the internet, the library, and real life. </p>
<p>And what other option do I have? I understand how to get to the top, why not use this knowledge? It would be dumb to settle for a lower rank and look like an underachiever because I took slacker classes. And I'm not so sure that Photography or Oceanography would be classes that I actually liked.</p>
<p>^Very true. No one is going to like all the classes he/she takes. It would be nice if you could pick whatever classes you are interested in, but it just doesn't work that way.</p>
<p>And about rank: if you want to have a good chance at getting into a college you like, you need to have a good class rank...period.</p>