Hello College Confidential, I hope I’ve put this thread in the right location.
First, a little background. My freshman year of high school went very, very well grade-wise. I was the only one in my class taking an AP course, and an independent study. All my grades were A’s and A+'s the entire year. You can imagine I was really hoping to receive the highest GPA award at the end of the year. Nonetheless, the award went to another person, who managed to eek past me by likely about a hundredth of a point. This has made me realize that as long as you have several people in your class doing their absolute best, it is really almost a draw as to who gets the highest GPA.
I know I was likely in the top three of my class, and I know I can continue to be for my next three years of high school. What I want to ask you, though, is how important is valedictorian? If I am within mere hundredths of points away from the title, will colleges think significantly different of me as compared to if I received the title? This really concerns me because I feel like there is nothing I can do about it.
Obviously, having the award is better than not having it.
If you are applying to top universities in the world where most applicants have extremely high grades, awards will be taken into account.
However, they are just a small part of your whole application.
If you continue to work hard on your school work, exams, and ECs, I’m sure you’ll be fine.
If it makes you feel better, I’ve never won a highest GPA award and had 2 Bs (borderline As but still) at the time of my application.
I’m off to Johns Hopkins this fall.
Good luck!
Nope, son was in top five and he got accepted at better schools than the valedictorian and salutorian. It’s a package that you present yourself as hardworking but being involved in a passion. He was /is an athlete, they weren’t. He did a lot of ECs outside of the school and had letters of recommendation from senators; I don’t think they did. All they did was study.
If your grades are good enough to make you a contender for the award then I’m sure you’ll be okay without it. If you’re really close to getting val, even if you don’t quite make it, then that means you’re still a good student and a strong applicant for colleges regardless. Should you still try and shoot for valedictorian? Sure! But I don’t think it’ll work against you if you don’t get it.
At my high school val/sal wasn’t determined until after the first semester of senior year, which was after I had turned in all of my college applications. So I didn’t even end up getting to put it on there, but I still got accepted to the schools I was hoping for.
Both my DD and DS missed val by a narrow margin but had a lot more ECs of higher level than the val, and both are going to more competitive schools than the vals in their grade. It’s a fun title to own, but as @radmadeline said, if the title isn’t bestowed until late senior year, it will have no bearing on whether you get accepted into college. And that’s the ultimate prize, right?
Being valedictorian is irrelevant. It’s awarded after admissions are done. Being in the top 10% of the class when applications go out is what top schools seem to look for.
It depends. In some states, there are automatic full tuition scholarships for the valedictorian to Flagship State U. This can be a big deal. Talk to your Guidance Counselor if you really want this, and find out if you can take an additional Independent Study.
Tippy top colleges care about class rank, especially if your HS is not thought of as “exceptional”
If you’re really close to getting val, even if you don’t quite make it, then that means you’re still a good student and a strong applicant for colleges regardless. Should you still try and shoot for valedictorian? Sure! But I don’t think it’ll work against you if you don’t get it.