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<p>Agree, especially to the latter.</p>
<p>My school doesn’t do Valedictorian, but does top 5 instead. Even though our class is small, it’s still hard to claim anyone in the top is “smarter” than anyone else in the top 5.</p>
<p>I was 5 at the end of last year, mainly because I don’t go to governor’s school, even though I’ve had two opportunities to sign up for it. It adds more weight than just taking AP classes (as I do this year) can account for. </p>
<p>Not that it really matters. I’ll be graduating with honors no matter what. And I refuse to let myself fall below 5, which is why I’m getting in all the weight I can for senior year. I’m not really that worried though. Besides the top 5, no one else taking weighted classes is really maintaining A Honor Roll. </p>
<p>If we had a Valedictorian, I don’t think it’d be weird to say there were others on par with him/her or better than him/her. There are a lot of choices in HS, and sometimes you’d rather take an elective or two you really want to take than another weighted class. -shrug-</p>
<p>It comes from the latin meaning “farewell” and “word” :]
Salutatorian (salvtatorian<lol) from latin meaning “greetings” and “word” :] uhhh wut am I saying.</p>
<p>I remember my Intermediate School Latin days… </p>
<p>…It’s kind of scary ;__;</p>
<p>Our val is an incredible over achiever who has spent the last four years to get it. Though, she doesn’t know anything outside the books. </p>
<p>Our sal is more deserving, and there was only a thousandth of a point difference.</p>
<p>The top five all had 99.5+% averages.</p>
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Hey, at least you don’t have to give a speech at graduation.</p>
<p>I have the highest SAT scores but I’m like 40/600. But our val is a really cool guy and I have a lot of respect for him.</p>
<p>Same here. The top rankers at my school are some of the best to hang out with. They deserve the great schools that they will get into (or the full ride at state U). </p>
<p>Doesn’t keep me from being jealous of their grades.</p>
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<p>you aren’t the val because you got a detention? wow that’s lame. we get detentions for being late for homeroom. they aren’t a big deal at all. but that really sucks.</p>
<p>Hard work and dedication should be rewarded more than genetical superiority</p>
<p>at my school it means nothing…that’s why i don’t care
what with weighted grades, people find all sorts of loopholes to raise there GPA just a bit more than the kids ranked right behind them…they do scheming things like taking a class that gives no credit, so they can divide they’re GPA by 5 classes instead of 6 which = a higher GPA
so somebody who takes 5 AP classes and 1 regular would have a 4.83, yet sombedoy that takes 4 AP, and two no credit, (like Band and ASB) would have a 5.0 GPA (for the year).</p>
<p>it makes me so mad because its not really based on how smart you are</p>
<p>i’m ranked 2nd currently, and I personally know the person who is ranked #1 is not even smarter than people within the top ten. I know i’m not going to end up with val or sal because I’m not up to taking No credit courses or scheming around so I can just have my 15 minutes of fame. </p>
<p>IMO valedictorian is just bragging rights ( at my school at least).</p>
<p>I would love to do the speech. That’s one reason why I’m a little happier about getting #1 because I actually want to do the speech and the others don’t.</p>
<p>OH and I like what hustler032 said</p>
<p>I was valedictorian many years ago, and I know there were smarter kids in the class. Actually, three of them graduated a year early! I was still proud to be #1, though, because I worked very hard. One of my best friends was #2, so we gave the speech together. It was a blast! Working hard in high school made studying engineering in college much easier. I had a LOT more fun in college, but still graduated with high honors.</p>
<p>Good luck to all of you!</p>
<p>loloool I would say more times than not the val is not the smartest by virtue of all the time he wasted with the crappy public school system</p>
<p>In my year, the top 5 are noticeably smarter than everyone else. after sophomore year, there were prolly about 35 people in the top 3 (1 and 2 were unique and then 3 was a massive tie), but then the first semester of junior year just bulldozed most people, so in the end it tends to work out.</p>
<p>but i go to a really liberal school where your grade is almost solely based on how well you do on tests. usually teachers dont even care about hw or anything like that, since tests rule supreme, and they arent memorization tests usually (except for in ap us gah) so you have to actually think to do well, and thinking isnt necessarily a reflection of how well you study.</p>
<p>yeah…we don’t have an official valedictorian at my school, but the student w/ the top weighted grades does get recognized at graduation. currently, i do, but i’m definitely not the smartest in my grade…just happened to take a lot of weighted classes, that’s all</p>
<p>from my experience, though, being valedictorian is more important for kids in private schools</p>
<p>I’m sal at my school. I’ve been in the top 5 since sophomore year and the top 5 has been rearranged constantly. One thing about about the top 5 is that we are all hard workers. There’s a cap off at my school of how many grades can be weighted. This prevents students from scheming to rise to the top spot. Although I’m happy to be salutatorian this year, I would’ve been just as happy being 3, 4, or 5. Rank doesn’t necessarily equate to intelligence.</p>
<p>The valedictorian is the hardest working. I am the salutatorian and consider him my equal.
(he is my best friend, after all. the best of friends are equals.)</p>
<p>But uh, yeah, the val is either, depending on the school, the hardest working or the one who can play the system.</p>
<p>I know very intelligent people who get C’s. They just don’t give a ****.</p>
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<p>Originally, the salutatorian gave the 1st speech, welcoming everyone to the ceremony. The Valedictorian gave the last speech.</p>
<p>Valedictorian is the smartest.</p>
<p>Salutatorian, not so much.</p>
<p><- Just bitter that she was such a lazyass through high school.</p>