<p>Hey, just wanted some opinions on our school's valedictorian issue.</p>
<p>We think our current valedictorian-to-be does not deserve his rank. His non-weighted gpa is a 3.5--the only reason he is our valedictorian is because he has taken over 10 physical education classes at our local college which are considered to be weighted under our grading system, thus raising his overall weighted GPA--which is the GPA our school uses to determine the class's rankings.</p>
<p>Is this allowed? Is it possible that he can just be valedictorian just because he has stacked up his weighted classes? He practically has 10 Bs while our salutatorian has 1 B in all the same classes. We've all practically killed ourselves with APs and honors to get the A grades we have, and he is putting in less effort than we are.</p>
<p>Wow...why would one take so many Gym classes...?</p>
<p>Personally, I'd talk to the principal about the way they're allocating weighted grades. Plus, don't colleges take out all non-academic classes out when calculating GPA? So I'm guessing colleges would catch on to his mischief....</p>
<p>Call you parents to strip him of his title????
NO! that is beyond low...</p>
<p>As unfair as it may be, he is not going to get into Harvard because he is in 10 Gym classes. Class rank isn't everything, and if you are truly more qualified then he is schools will know that.
Let him have an inflated GPA, now if it kicks you out of the top 10, or whatever, I would talk to the principal about making you tie with where you should be.
But to strip his title, will humiliate him. Even if it is unfair, Number 2 is not a bad position. </p>
<p>So if i were you I would get your rank moved up by one or two if he supposedly should be of lower rank then you. But beyond that, no school will accept a student based on how many PE classes he took.</p>
<p>It doesn't seem fair, no, but if that is the clearly stated policy (that any college course is weighted like that), then there's really nothing you can complain about. I mean, you CAN, and you could get parents involved, but I think it's just something you gotta accept. The salutatorian just has to know that he really worked really, really hard for his grades in tough courses, and colleges will see that.</p>
<p>Why does it matter to you if he graduates first in the class. Colleges obviously know whether or not the classes that he is taking are BS or not. It's not like the admission officers are dumb. If you have challenged harder courses and done well in those classes, there's no need to worry. You won't get to brag that you're #1, o well, but will get to brag about the fact that you're going to end up at a better school than he is.</p>
<p>No, it's not fair, but being valedictorian really isn't very important.
Colleges know that every hs weights grades differently. My daughter is taking Arabic 101(5 college credits) at a local college and her school is counting it as an unweighted elective, just like the first year of a hs language class.
At this school, if there are two students with identical transcripts except one has more unweighted electives (art, band, languages etc) than the other, the one with the fewest electives has the higher rank because over a 4.0, unweighted electives bring the average down.
Many valedictorians game the system that way and colleges are onto it.</p>
<p>Of course it isn't FAIR. Socialism is "fair" but I still oppose it.
Get over it - valedictorian status will be nice for him, but colleges will still see all his B's and whatnot, and then they'll catch sight of his amazing gym grades! Whoohoo!</p>
<p>Yeah there really isn't anything you can do about it, but it won't be as important. I feel the same way kind of because of the kids who do Chamber Orch, Wind Ensemble, or Chamber Choir (all "Honors" classes as opposed to just regular Orchestra, Symphonic Band, & Choir) get that .67 Honors boost here. Yes there are flukes but like others said, colleges are catching onto that.</p>
<p>I agree that its not fair but like the old saying goes, life isnt fair. i go to a school where if u study study a lot, anyone can be val. however, between the top 2 or 3 students there can be some rivalry and me (the sal) am personally sick of all the val drama. its an unfair process and its not like it will drastically improve ur chances at harvard (or any ivy league/top school) colleges just like to see UNWEIGHTED gpa, ur courseload and how u approximately rank w/ ur class. if u are top 5-10% w/ a decent UW gpa, SAT's, etc., whether u get val or not really does NOT matter</p>
<p>honestly, this is not important.
who cares if he's val? if you have a good rank, you're qualified, you're likely to get into better colleges than he.
i wouldn't worry one bit about it, let him be happy he's val even if he's taken ten gym classes.</p>