<p>The registrar's office at my s's school says that they have not computed class rank yet! It is driving us crazy because my s's application is done and only needs the transcript to be sent. They are having a parent meeting this week to discuss admission procedures and they won't accept any transcript requests until after that (and even later if they decide to wait until after the first 6 weeks is over). I think this is crazy and is really slowing up the process! At my older s's school, we were informed of the procedures at the end of junior year and the transcripts were ready to go when school began!</p>
<p>I don't want to cause a stink up there, does anybody have any experience with this type of thing?</p>
<p>Why do you already need a transcript? If it's for college admissions, you still have a long way to go before even early decision deadlines. I wouldn't push the office too much--you don't want the guidance counselor to get annoyed, since he or she will be one of the people writing your kid's recommendations.</p>
<p>Dmd77, I believe that the rank is extremely important since it is from a Texas school. The application season started on September 1st at the UT-Austin flagship school. Families are keen to send in the completed applications as soon as possible in order to maxixmize the benefits of the automatic admission of the top 10% of students attending schools that have an official rank. </p>
<p>Of course, waiting for transcripts pales in comparison to the situation at very competitive schools that do not rank or do not make the ranking official before the Spring of senior year.</p>
<p>Exactly my thinking. I don't want to rub anybody the wrong way. I think we are just anxious to get everything done! The whole thing just seems really unorganized up there. When we went through this at a different school, the process was like clockwork, true, there were 1/2 the amount of kids and it was a college prep school vs. big public. I think I am expecting too much. I am also leery of the thing. If you met my s's counselor you would know what I mean - scatter brain! I have heard horror stories and I am trying to keep that from happening!</p>
<p>xiggi, you are exactly correct in assessing our situation. My s is applying to McCombs for business, he should be an auto admit at 1%, but if 75% of the class fills, he will be in the regular app pool. We are trying to keep this from happening!</p>
<p>Also, should add that my s is tied for #1, so it wouldn't be hard to figure out the class rank for him. I think the issue is that they have been trying to see how the class levels out. With Katrina evacuees, there has been a lot of movement in numbers. But, at some point, they need to pick a date and number and stick with it!!</p>
<p>Daughter sent her apps in today. I really hope to not have trouble with the guidance office, but I suspect we will be fighting the battle of the SAT/ACT scores again. Big sigh. I'm so proud of my daughter for getting them done in such a timely manner, but we can't even relax and breathe because our guidance office is such a disaster.</p>
<p>Ag54, I realize that telling you to relax a bit won't help much, but it is really helpful to do so when dealing with UT. With the high ranking of your son, everything will fall in place nicely, but it will require some patience. Even after everything is submitted, one can drive himself bonkers checking the online system--which works very well at UT--or checking the mailbox. </p>
<p>This said, I fully realize how taxing the wait is, especially since valedictorians in Texas do receive a subtantial scholarship. Pins and needles!</p>
<p>zoosermom, I feel your pain. It is hard to have faith in guidance counselors when they really haven't done anything remotely encouraging for you to have trust in them. Public school guidance is a far cry from prep school guidance. I just keep trying to tell myself that everything will eventually get done. But, as soon as I start feeling better I hear some story about transcripts never being sent or being incorrect (even after checking). All the moms of kids older than my s keep saying to watch them like a hawk - not a good feeling!</p>
<p>Ag54 my daughter actually goes to an expensive private school, but the GC is an 80-year-old priest who has different ideas about things, to say the least. Daughter is a senior now and we had one parents meeting with the GC last year and he basically said that there's no reason for students to apply anywhere but a SUNY or a CUNY, so he is not helping much with the private colleges. Interestingly, my younger daughter started high school last week in the IB program of an inner-city public school and we have already received a college office newsletter, a detailed letter, and notification that all freshmen are required to take the PSAT. Nothing like this ever happened for older daughter.</p>
<p>Best of luck. In my book, the definition of stress is needing to depend on someone for an important matter and knowing the individual is not particularly reliable. Hope it all works out.</p>
<p>Wow, zoosermom, that is 180 degrees from our situation! You would think that with the expensive prep school, you would get A-one guidance! I have come to expect no news from our public, there are just too many kids and I think they spend more time trying to just make sure kids are in classes and not getting into trouble. Luckily, we had incredible guidance at our older s's school so I knew what tests needed to be taken and when with younger s. I really feel sorry for other parents at the school. I will mention something that is coming up or has a deadline and they look at me in panic saying they never knew about it. I have learned a ton by reading threads on CC too and with my s deciding he wants to go to the state flagship (after being all over the place since last year) it has greatly reduced our stress. Now, if we can just get that darn transcript sent! Good luck with your senior :) Your guidance counselor sounds like some of the teachers my s had at his school. They definitely do have their own ideas!</p>
<p>In today's computer age, are you saying that class rank is done manually? Yikes! Our son's grade reports recalculated class rank every grading period and reported it on the grade report.</p>
<p>And even if they had to do it manually how long would it take? Not more than a few hours I would think assuming that all the weighted gpa's had been calculated.</p>
<p>BTW, congrats to your student for getting his applications ready so soon.</p>
<p>You would think it is computerized wouldn't you. I really don't know what the deal is except for the issue of kids enrolling then not showing up (we have some Katrina kids that have skewed the numbers). For my son it really doesn't matter because he is #1, or 1% however you want to look at it. BUT, for some kids, they desperately want the Katrina kids counted because they might be borderline top 10% or top 1/4 and the more kids that are counted in the class, the better off they will be. I have heard that this is why they are taking so long, but it really puts people who are ready at a disadvantage, and as Xiggi pointed out, time is of the essence when applying to UT.</p>
<p>Thanks, he has been really on the ball and is just ready for it to all be finalized so he can quit worrying about it (and me too)!</p>
<p>Yes, there has certainly been much arguing in Texas about the unfairness of auto admits to top 10%ers. Back when my older s was going through this I hated the ranking (he wasn't top 10%) and although he eventually was admitted in the Spring to UT, he had already decided to go somewhere else. But, it is amazing how my perspective has changed now that my sr s is an auto admit ;) I am glad that when he finally gets all his stuff in (transcript!!!) he will get that letter and we can all breath a sigh of relief and be done with it!</p>
<p>"my Ds school doesn't rank....and it is a blessing"</p>
<p>CGM, the presence or absence of ranking is not ver relevant to this discussion, but if it were, I'd like to say that the benefits of NOT ranking are not as great as you may imagine. Very often, the reasons behind the decision not to rank--PC, Wobegon-crave, or well founded--are a mere illusion. Schools end up having to disclose additional data such as grade distributions, complete GPA, or detailed files. Schools with amazing guidance counselors and ample resources have become experts in undermining the negative impact of non-ranking. However, the wannabe schools that drop ranking because the BIG GUNS have done or cave in to public pressure are not so fortunate. For instance, catholic schools are especially prone to "victimize" their students through antiquated policies and a profound disdain to change what "used" to work, and simply contribute to the growing chasm between what colleges WANT and what some over-the-hill adminstrator wants to do. </p>
<p>Please check around and you'll see that the story of Zoosermom is far from being unique. In many schools, the GC position is viewed as a dead end, where people are parked until they realize that the retirement age has passed ... a while ago. No matter how NICE the counselors are, such situation is hurting the students, and this fact becomes only clear to most parents when the application season starts. </p>
<p>In the end, one would hope to see a uniform system develop where every high school in he country has to report grades, rankings in a comparable way. This will NOT happen until the colleges send a clear message that applicants from "rogue" schools WILL be penalized. The University of Texas sends such a message, and while I may not like it when it hits home by having an impact on my sister who is valedictorian at a Texan school that ranks but not in a manner acceptable to UT, I have to concede its inherent value.</p>