School Ranking System?

Parents Forum
1

<p>Sorry to post this on the parents forum, but you guys definitely know more than others :)</p>

<p>Will colleges recalculate ranking? Our school's ranking system is a bit unfair in my opinion. Honors classes are weighted the same as regular classes. Honors Pre Calc is weighted the same as Pre Calc. Which is weighted the same as Math 1/2/3. </p>

<p>I also find our honors courses to be more rigorous than our AP programs - not that our ap programs are bad, the majority of students score 5s on their AP tests. Someone who got a B in honors usually gets an A in AP.</p>

<p>I found that the top 10% is mixed with geniuses who all have 2300-2400 sats and crazy gpas and those who have cruised along with easy classes and gotten As in them.</p>

<p>Because of this ranking system, those in the top 10% in honors/ap all have 2300-2400 SATs. That's approximately ~30 I believe. (large school)</p>

<p>The the majority of honors/ap kids are in the top 20-30%, but they aren't stupid. Our SATs are all around the 2200s - and no, we're not lazy. We just challenged ourselves (Ok i'm lazy but P:)</p>

<p>Will colleges notice this? Or will they still cut us off at the top 10%? Our school average SAT is a 1700 but a 22xx is around the top 15%...sat score wise... haha... </p>

<p>I'm just devastated my ranking will probably affect what college I can get into. I understad it's my fault for slacking, but even so... I noticed this trend. Due to scheduling errors, I got switched into regular english and... I was not a very good student in honors english and struggled but in regular english, with the hardest teacher on campus, I have the highest grade in the class and I don't do a thing. I just find it...a bit unfair?</p>

<p>I may sound like I'm whining and I suppose I am, so sorry for that :) But yea, so will my class rank severely affect my college acceptances? I think I'm around the top 30%.... but with a .9 point gpa increase it'll jump to top 20% o-o; i'm shooting for a higher rank, but i'm losing hope because it's cumulative </p>

<p>*i'd like to note only 10-15% even take honors/ap classes. </p>

<p>Thanks everyone :)</p>

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<p>The short answer is that your rank probably will hurt at many schools. Some schools however may refigure your GPA using their own weighting systems. Most high schools have weighting systems that are less than perfect. Our high school weights honors and AP classes the same amount and only some languages have honors sections. My kids both got A’s in regular English senior year after B’s in honors English every other year. It didn’t stop my oldest from being accepted at Harvard or my youngest at Tufts and U of Chicago. However both of them were ranked in the top 10% and the oldest was in the top 2%. We always have a handful of kids in the top 25 who have done almost perfectly in regular classes instead of taking honors and APs. However they don’t get into the most selective colleges. The difficulty of your curriculum will be evaluated too.</p>

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<p>Ahh. I know that if honors english was weighted the same as AP, I would be in the top 10% or extremely close to it…:confused: I think most schools weight honors - like yours does.</p>

<p>The thing though is that some of them are taking classes a step lower than regular classes… and still rank in the top 10%? Our school offers classes from multivariable calculus to math 1 (pre algebra i believe?) so… i feel ranking is inaccurate</p>

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<p>Most colleges don’t cut off their admissions at the top 10%. And they certainly understand that where a school doesn’t weight honors classes, the top echelons of ranking will have plenty of people who didn’t challenge themselves. </p>

<p>The private colleges where being outside the top 10% will hurt you most will tend to be places that you probably wouldn’t be that competitive for in the first place. It may also hurt you at some public flagships that do admissions largely by the numbers, if they include class rank in those numbers, because they can’t really recalculate it on a consistent basis for everyone. It may also hurt you if you are competing for merit scholarships. That’s life, unfortunately. But I think there will be plenty of schools that will look past your rank.</p>

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<p>Most colleges - hmm I’m applying to top 25 colleges =/</p>

<p>I’m the deadly low gpa/rank high sat… with amazing, exceptional ECs. That’s why i’m so concerned about my rank in the school, as if it weren’t for that I’d be accepted in a blink of an eye P: . Wow, that sounded conceited haha. But because of my rank, I think even UCSD could be a low reach. </p>

<p>So… what colleges do you think would look past rank for high sats, rigorous coursework, and extraordinary ecs? ><;</p>

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<p>There are many schools that don’t use weighting for ranking (my own many years ago among them). The colleges will take that into account when evaluating your application.</p>

<p>

^ This</p>

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<p>Even so, I shouod still be top 10%. but if the school does account for that…well that’s a bit more relief :slight_smile: feels like I have a shot at some schools now</p>

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<p>But to put it in perspective, if you’re in the top 20% at a competitive HS with roughly 2200 SATs, you’re going to have some perfectly fine options next year. Maybe not the very top of the top, but you’ll land somewhere very nice.</p>

<p>And as for the slacking - you’ve got to enjoy yourself along the way, too. It actually sounds to me like you’ve got a healthy balance. When I think back on my own school years, there are plenty of fond memories from the slacking part!</p>

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<p>loopyz, ask to see your high school’s profile. This is a document that the school sends out with your transcript, describing your high school’s curriculum, grading policies, where recent graduates attend college, etc. The profile should include something about the ranking policy for the school. If it doesn’t, that should be added. You could have the new version sent out as a supplement to your apps. </p>

<p>Your counselor will also indicate if you took the most rigorous curriculum possible. </p>

<p>The UC’s don’t look at class rank except for ELC eligibility. Your UC GPA WILL be weighted for both AP and (if instate) honors classes. </p>

<p>I agree with the above posters that being outside of the top 10% might hurt, but it’s not something you have control over. You’ll still have great options to choose from.</p>

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<p>Thanks misterk! :slight_smile: it’s more like the top 20-30% have 2200-2400s, bottom 70-80% have 1500s. Big discrepancy haha</p>

<p>I hope you’re right about the fine options :slight_smile: I’m aiming for top 20 and I think my ECs can get me there but >.>; ehh I heard Cornell cares lots about ranking- hence, why I’m annoyed and freaking out about it</p>

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<p>Our D addressed her ranking concern in the other information section of common app. Had a similar situation to yours. We believe that some schools couldnt overlook her less than top 10% ranking. She had great admission results anyway. Best of luck!</p>

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<p>It’s impossible for a college to “recalculate” your hs rank, because a rank is by definition a comparison to the rest of your student body. They’d have to refigure EVERYONE’s GPA and then see where you stood.</p>

<p>What they can (and probably will) do is to recalculate your GPA based on their own weighting system. </p>

<p>If they know that your high school does not weight GPA, and you have a very rigorous schedule, they MAY pay less attention to your rank.</p>

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<p>Ouchh so relative to my schools ranking I’m worse than someone in remedial math and English T-T</p>

<p>I suppose the recalculation can help but…should I just say goodbye to all top 20 schools? =&lt;/p>

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<p>^No that’s silly. If you are really worried, I suggest you go and talk to your guidance counselor and ask if what they put in the school report to make it clear that their ranking system doesn’t take into account the difficulty of the schedule.</p>