So, right now I have a 3.99 UW gpa and am sitting in the salutatorian rank for my class. However, there are 6 valedictorians so my transcript says 7/127. To me, this feels like it is skewing how someone reading my application would view my rank. My school announces final rank at the end of the semester which is after I will have submitted my applications. Is there any way to denote “Sal status” or something like that? Should I just wait until semester and email admissions to notify them if I get the award? I know I probably sound really whiny, but it just feels belittling that I have to report as 7 when the other 6 girls all get to report as 1. Sorry, I’m definitely turning into one of those kids that over-analyzes every detail so please tell me if I’m out of line or worrying about nothing. As always, thanks CC.
You’re out of line and you’re worrying about nothing. There are 6 students ahead of you and that’s all that matters. What they get to report has nothing to do with you. You had your chance to sit in their position.
You’re worrying about nothing.
Unless your high school is really, really bad, rank 7 has almost no difference from rank 1, especially since you have a 3.99 UW GPA and I’m assuming valedictorians have 4.0’s.
No school is going to care about that .01 difference.
"No school is going to care about that .01 difference. "
Oh, there is a world of difference between 3.99 and 4.00
HS students obsess over sal/val for nothing. Considering it’s supposed to be an honor conveyed at graduation, I’m amazed at how students grasp at those ephemeral titles that mean zero to colleges.
Congratulations on your fantastic GPA!
I would wait – they may not designate one if there are six co-valedictorians. It really won’t make any big difference on your applications anyway.
Haha thanks for a little positivity @mamaedefamilia and @happy1, but just for the record, they always name them, no matter how many there are. The last couple years it has been in the 4-6 range. I think with next year’s freshman they are moving to the laude system, though. Thank you @T26E4 because I was, in fact grasping at it before, but since it appears to not matter as much I previously thought it did I guess I need not be so worried. The emphasis on at graduation makes sense, I just never really saw it that way until now. And lastly, ah yes, thanks @justonedad for crushing spirits everywhere… sorry to sound harsh there, but when I lost my chance to sit in their position it was because I challenged myself, taking nearly every AP class offered at our school whereas 5 of the 6 valedictorians have taken no more than 3 AP classes throughout high school, but how would you possibly know that or care about it, you are after all, just one dad.
It’s likely your GC will also mention you are salutatorian, but what you can do assuming there is space where it asks for rank put 7/127 (Salutatorian).
Just out of curiosity: are there 6 valedictorians because there are 6 students who tied for highest GPA or does your school always name 6 valedictorians?
Like I said, you made a choice. I know the system bites. I think it was the right decision, but I feel sorry that you can’t just accept the results and move on. It will be better if you do.
@smithemi97 If you are looking for advice/comments there is absolutely no need for snarky comments. The fact is that our local HS did not name a salutatorian when there were co-valedictorians two years ago and I thought it best to mention that as a possible scenario. There is no way I could have had the history about how your HS handles it. What I didn’t want you to do is put a credential on your application that does not end up being conferred – especially for a relatively meaningless thing like this.
And for the record, if there are six #1 then it is reasonable that you are #7 – there are six people ahead of you. It is not “belittling”, it is standard practice. If you look at any sporting event that has ties, the places are reported the same way (ex. a golf tournaments).
It sounds like you are a bit bitter about not being co-number 1. IMO it is time for you to look forward, not backward. Colleges pay a great deal of attention rigor of schedule and your strength of schedule could well end up being more important/impressive than a tiny difference in GPA. Keep the big picture (your excellent education, your rigor of schedule) in mind, take a deep breath, and let the small stuff go. Trust me, once you show up at college nobody will care at all where you graduated in your HS class.
Colleges don’t care. They care MUCH more that you challenged yourself academically.
In.the spring i bet one of your classmates will.post “I don’t understand why I got denied, I was valedictorian and they took.that kid who ranked #7!” 
happens EVERY YEAR.
You have to follow your transcript.
@happy1 I was saying thank you for your input, the frustration in that post was in no way directed at you, nor @t26e4. And just one dad, I was literally describing to you how I am not bitter, because I am proud to say I didn’t take the easy route to the top even if it caused me to fall slightly in rank. This post was made purely out of curiosity for how the reporting would work on my application, now perhaps I should have used some different wording in my OP, but hindsight is 20/20. And thank you to the other posters who continued to answer my question and offer support after the miscommunication of the previous posters. Lastly, I truly do appreciate what this site has to offer, that’s why I continue to use it, along with thousands of other kids just trying to get a little help from people who know more about this process than they do.
Oh, and sorry I forgot about you @iwannabe_Brown but our school names everyone with a 4.0 a val, seeing as we don’t have weighted classes, just these last few years there has been a seeming abundance of top students.
Our school used to calculate GPAs to four decimal points which is well beyond the margin of error. And often it was a matter of luck who would end up on top. For example my youngest took Latin which caused scheduling conflicts that caused him to have to take regular math and physics instead of honors. Latin also only had honors in Level 4 while other languages with more sections started honors with Level 3. Who knew that back in middle school when they chose their languages?
Huh? Margin of Error? There is no need to sample when you know the makeup of the whole.
Not worth worrying about. Lots of hs have hinky ways of setting rank and adcoms know it. In your case, you don’t need to fret. Now your own app/supps are what matter.
@justonedad, she’s using the non sampling definition of margin of error. As in the measure of precision. For example you can’t use a scale that measures to the gram and say that you weighed something as being 52.338472g. Your margin of error on the scale is roughly +/- 0.4g because it rounds to the nearest gram.
Since the actual GPA scale for grades doesn’t distinguish beyond 1 decimal point, http://pad2.whstatic.com/images/thumb/a/aa/Convert-a-Percentage-into-a-4.0-Grade-Point-Average-Step-5-Version-2.jpg/670px-Convert-a-Percentage-into-a-4.0-Grade-Point-Average-Step-5-Version-2.jpg you can easily argue that an average GPA shouldn’t go beyond 1 decimal point either, and certainly 4 decimal places is putting in a level of precision that doesn’t actually exist in GPA scales.
