<p>Back to 2005 ? OP might not even have children in high school anymore.</p>
<p>OP, I think you hit upon a big problem in recognizing the big problem with grade inflation in student ranking. Our son’s hs went the opposite route by structuring classes, particularly honors/AP classes, so that there was little grade inflation. Our son graduated with a B+ gpa and ranked in the top 5% of his class. They also restricted the number of AP classes students could take so that they could be taught as true college level courses. He had a better gpa in college math courses at RPI(3.75) than he did in hs(3.5).</p>
<p>This “policy” better prepared students for college level work and resulted in a greater gpa spread in individual student ranking. A slip in a course or two did not severely impact final class ranking.</p>
<p>I realize this is an old thread, but I have a few comments and questions on this topic. I searched for a more recent thread, but this one seemed the most appropriate to my son’s situation.</p>
<p>My son’s high school does not rank. I have noticed many large, public universities list rank as one of the criteria for admission and scholarship eligibility. Can anyone from a non-ranking high school comment on this? He is a strong student academically but has not taken any standardized tests yet. I could guess that he will meet scholarship criteria for many schools, but he will lack the top 10% rank because his school doesn’t rank. Right now there are about 80 students in his class with more than 8 tied with perfect GPAs. In addition, his school does not offer any APs. Many of the courses are weighted (honors) as it is a college prep school with a set curriculum. The students are not able to choose any electives, just their foreign language.</p>
<p>So, I’m wondering if he should continue at this small college prep school. The school is definitely preparing him for college, but it seems a similar student who attends the public school down the street (with dual credit and AP offerings) would have an easier time with college admissions because their high school rank wouldn’t be an issue. Sort of frustrating!</p>
<p>DS’ school (private) does not rank, does not release decile info, does not weight, does not offer honors or AP (with a very few exceptions), and doesn’t have much grade inflation, as far as I can tell. They do, however, have a great track record with colleges. I have <em>no</em> idea what will happen with DS next year - lopsided kid with excellent test scores (should make NMF), ok grades who loves learning but isn’t grade-motivated - particularly since he’ll be applying at a few colleges that (according to Naviance) have very little experience with the school, and we’ll be looking for merit $. </p>
<p>If it weren’t my kid, I’d just be curious…as it is I worry.</p>
<p>Our school system – the 17th largest in the country, with 24 high schools – does not rank, at least, not openly (although if a rank is absolutely necessary, as with applicants to the service academies, they can come up with one).</p>
<p>The colleges seem to live with it. Plenty of kids get into highly selective schools. I mean, it’s not as though colleges could get together and refuse to consider all of the applicants from a large chunk of suburban Maryland.</p>
<p>madbean, you did a fabulous job explaining the philosophy behind not ranking as I understand it and have seen it work to my own kids’ favor.</p>
<p>odyssey04, in my opinion, the key questions you should ask yourself are: (1) am I satisfied with the HS education my child is receiving in the context of his current non-ranking, no AP academic system?; and (2) am I confident our HS’s students have a proven record of admissions to top colleges and our college counselors either have an existing relationship with most colleges or are up to the task of educating colleges who don’t know our school?</p>
<p>My kids attend a non-ranking HS in Texas, where state law guarantees admission to UT, A&M and other schools based on class rank (the requisite rank and percentage admitted by rank varies by campus; non-auto admits are evaluted under a holistic review system that relies, in part, on rank). Here’s how UT answers your question: “For students from non-ranking schools, a rank is estimated using the student’s GPA and grade distributions provided by the schools.” I think that is a very common solution to the problem of no rank.</p>
<p>If you haven’t seen a grade distribution, ask your GC to show you one. Basically, it shows where your student stands compared to his peers generally and/or in specific classes. Also ask to see the Secondary School Report–another eye opener! This is also often referred to as the counselor’s recommendation. Does your school use Naviance to track admissions? What does your school’s profile (likely downloadable from the school website) tell you about your students’ history of college acceptances?</p>
<p>Our school no longer offers AP classes (although probably just as at your HS, our kids are well-prepared to take AP exams at the conclusion of AP-similar courses). </p>
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