Interested to hear opinions regarding class ranking

Parent Cafe
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<p>I'm posting this in the parent thread as I'm interested in hearing what parents think of this. </p>

<p>Anyway, I go to a moderately successful public school. Not a notably good high school, but not a bad one either. We usually send a few students to various Ivys and a lot to schools like Berkeley.</p>

<p>However, there is SERIOUS grade inflation at my school. It's ridiculous. A 3.9 GPA is not even in the top 25% of my class, and a 3.75 is not even in the top 50%. If you show up to class, you pretty much get an A. Unfortunately, my school has unweighted GPAs as well, and the administration is entirely delusional when it comes to realizing that because they report class rank, they're screwing over anyone who has received more than 2 or 3 Bs. </p>

<p>My personal GPA is not so great. I had a 4.0 freshman year, had some problems at home sophomore and junior year, and my GPA dropped substantially. </p>

<p>Now that I'm applying to colleges, the reality of my situation is that I will not be getting into any competitive universities. I would love to go to NYU, my SAT scores are way above average, I've taken loads of AP tests (with good scores), have good ECs, etc. but my class rank is in the bottom 50% (despite having a GPA that is above average for NYU CAS- where I would apply). </p>

<p>However, despite all of these achievements, despite being an above average candidate for NYU, I will automatically be rejected because my class rank is below 50%. According to the CollegeBoard, 100% of applicants accepted to NYU were in the top 50% of their class, but 68% had GPAs lower than 3.75. </p>

<p>Because of my class rank, I will not be accepted to NYU. That's the simple fact of the matter. If my school didn't engage so heavily in grade inflation I would statistically be a very competitive applicant for NYU. I don't think I should be rejected because 100 students in my class took easy classes, ended up with 3.97s-4.0s, and destroyed my class rank. It's ridiculous that a 3.82 GPA is not in the top 50%, especially when I've taken all honors and AP classes, and have the AP scores to support my academic merit. </p>

<p>Can anyone justify the supposed fairness of this system?</p>

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<p>According to NYU’s latest common data set (2008-2009), rank is “important”, but not as important as several other factors, including course rigor, academic GPA, standardized test scores, essay, recommendations, and extracurriculars. 34.6% of freshman submitted high school class rank, and 99.7% of those were in the top half of their class. Average high school GPA was 3.6.</p>

<p>Since you mention Berkeley, note that Berkeley does not consider class rank in freshman admissions.</p>

<p>On the other hand, Texas public schools’ freshman admissions are all about rank and do not consider GPA.</p>

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<p>The AdComs at reach-y schools probably already know there’s grade inflation at your high school, so they most likely “look at the whole package”.</p>

<p>Since the rest of your stats and ECs are in your control (relatively speaking), that’s where you need to put your efforts, IMO.</p>

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<p>What I’m saying is that if 100% of the applicants NYU admitted were in the top 50%, and I am not, I will not be accepted. Regardless of how good everything else is. Is that not true?</p>

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<p>I don’t have any experience with NYU admissions, but my hunch tells me there’s a good chance every school “fudges” the facts to make themselves shine in the best light.</p>

<p>It’s possible NYU figures in only those admits who can actually provide a rank. (I know my daughter’s high school didn’t provide a ranking of graduating seniors to prospective colleges.)</p>

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Aehm… How WOULD they report a class rank for those students who did not provide a rank to them?</p>

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Aehm… How WOULD they report a class rank for those students who did not provide a rank to them?</p>

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<p>^b@r!um: I think this student might not realize / know about this practice. I was trying to be helpful to the OP who joined in Jan 2011 and has 141 posts. GMAB.</p>

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<p>Most people complain that their GPA is bad because the teachers don’t give out enough A’s. They can’t win. If they are giving out A’s like candy, why didn’t you get A’s too?</p>

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<p>The grading practices at your high school sound absurd, ZuVieleFragen.</p>

<p>As GlobalNomad pointed out, perhaps your school does not report rank to colleges. Some don’t, despite keeping the GPA data–our local HS is an example. Ask your GC about it. If the school does not report rank, there is no need to say anything about it. </p>

<p>If your school does report rank, I’d suggest handling it this way: Somewhere on the application, indicate that the rank reported by your school is based on unweighted GPA. The section that asks something like “Is there anything else you would like us to know?” would be a good spot for this. (There is no need to comment on the ridiculous level of grade inflation–that’s just a drawback. Complaining about it will not help your application. Drawing attention to it will make your other grades look suspect, even when they are not.) Then, note the AP classes that you took, or your overall philosophy of course selection, and make a specific request that your academic performance be assessed on the basis of your transcript and AP/standardized test scores. Then segue into an EC accomplishment, perhaps academically related, that you haven’t had space to discuss before. This could be the year that NYU takes 1 person from the lower 50% of his/her high school class. There are frequently exceptions to well established patterns.</p>

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<p>If a 3.9 isn’t even top 25% because A’s are so common- then chances are adcoms will wonder (at least) about the true value of an A grade at that hs. Or even a high B. Providing rank is a matter of the hs policy- and done by the GC. Adcoms will either know the grade inflation practice or see on the hs profile that the grade distribution is skewed upwards. Agree, the rigor of the classes you took and the impact of your ECs will matter. And LoRs, essays and those quirky supp questions. And, in this case, your SAT and AP test scores.</p>

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<p>They don’t. Somewhere in the fine print, it probably says that X proportion of the high schools from which the applicants (or accepted students or matriculated students) came do not rank and that the rank information is based on the others.</p>

<p>X may be as high as 50% in some instances.</p>

<p>But this does not apply to the OP’s situation. The OP’s school ranks, and the OP’s rank is going to be low. That’s a different problem.</p>

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<p>^ Very true Mathmom!

The school can decide what it wants to use in admission. The Common Data Set is out there for you to see what you need to gain entry. The real question is why didn’t you do better?</p>

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<p>Wait a minute. The OP is actually in the lowest 50% in terms of rank, because he got a number of Bs when the school gives a lot of As. Is he suggesting that he would have gotten As if there were no grade inflation? What is there to suggest that his grades would have been higher under an alternative approach? Those Bs might have been Cs if there were no inflation.</p>

<p>That being said, it seems to me that this is a high school that shouldn’t rank.</p>

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<p>Perhaps your gpa would not even be as high as it is now. You stated that your gpa dropped substantially sophomore and junior year. This is the reason that you will not be a competitve applicant, not your allegations that everyone else’s grades are inflated.</p>

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<p>The OP may be complaining that the unweighted GPA is being used for class rank. His unweighted is low, however weighted is higher. I believe he feels that if weighted GPA were used for class rank he would fall higher in the ranking (despite his few B’s) because he had more weighted classes then many students who currently outrank him.</p>

<p>I agree with others, find out if your school releases rank at all.</p>

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<p>It is not possible to tell from the outside whether this claim is true.</p>

<p>However, NYU’s latest common data set said that 99.7% (not 100%) of admitted applicants who provided rank were in the top half of their classes. Also, only 34.6% of admitted applicants provided rank, so we don’t know where the rest of them ranked.</p>

<p>Also, if you want to go to NYU, you better be from a wealthy family. NYU has a reputation of poor financial aid, so that most needy students will not be able to afford to attend, or they will need to take out loans in amounts that would be considered too large by many people.</p>

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<p>That is not exactly true. You are confusing automatic admission based on rank and holistic admission. Nothing precludes someone with a high unweighted GPA to be admitted to one of the most competitive programs that are not subject to automatic admission.</p>

<p>For instance, UT at Austin looks at the High School Coursework:</p>

<p>“When making admission decisions, we look positively upon students who show their commitment to academics by taking the most rigorous coursework available to them. Level of coursework taken is considered in context with the availability of coursework in your high school.”</p>

<p>See [Application</a> Review | Be a Longhorn](<a href=“http://bealonghorn.utexas.edu/freshmen/after-you-apply/review]Application”>Review & Decision Process - University of Texas Admissions)</p>

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<p>It doesn´t matter whether your school rank or not, but on the GC´s recommendation letter, it will ask your GC to check off if you are top 1%, 5%…of your class. On your teacher´s LOR, it will also ask your teacher to check off (different categories) if you are top student in each of those categories. What you need to find out is what your GC will check off.</p>

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<p>It seems to me, that the OP is suggesting that while his grades may drop if there was no grade inflation, the grades of his classmates would drop even more, thus increasing his rank.</p>