<p>Situation: My senior in high school ds midyear transcript showed a class ranking of one. Two weeks ago she was formally notified that she would be class of 2010 valedictorian. Now received news that there was an error and she will be salutatorian. </p>
<p>In the meantime, she filled out scholarship apps, including one to Pomona, her top choice, broadcasting her valedictorian status. Am worried that she needs to notify colleges pre-selection in case of misrepresentation issues.</p>
<p>Valedictorian selection process is dodgy. Our podunk backward school district is giving AP weight to classes taken by a kid on concurrent enrollment in the local JCthus the bump to #2 for my completely distraught and embarrassed d. </p>
<p>Have asked the HS to recognize 2 Valedictorians, but even if they comply (we are waiting to hear) that doesnt take care of the ranking problem. Any advice?</p>
<p>My two cents…If your DD was formally notified of her valedictorian status, then you should INSIST the school honors that notice given that your daughter has notified her college choices of that fact. Talk to whoever you have to talk to to get this done-bring a copy of the proof with you. G’Luck!</p>
<p>Have your daughter write a letter to the AdComm at Pomona officially notifying them of the possibility that she may be No. 2 instead of No. 1 and explain, in deatail:</p>
<p>A. Why (as you explained it here, and
B. Why she decided to inform Pomona right away.</p>
<p>This will be a GREAT letter - unlike all the other that thay get. it will draw attention to her application. Everyone on the Committee will empathize with her and they will ALL love her for her ethics.</p>
<p>This is an opportunity to strengthen her application!</p>
<p>I agree with Glido. And I don’t think Val is that much better than Sal in admissions.</p>
<p>As an aside, I don’t know how they could designate her Val status when there is still a quarter/semester to go. Theoretically could she mentally check out and still make Val with a bad last marking period? Students at our HS weren’t notified until after all final grades were submitted and verified, and GPAs fully run.</p>
<p>^^^ I don’t think that is true for all schools. A lot of schools base it on the status at the penultimate semester. I know that is the case at our local high school.</p>
<p>I do wonder whether this is a case of the squeaky mouse (the concurrent enrollment student) getting the cheese. There should be some data somewhere at the school (school handbook maybe) about whether CC classes are counted as weighted classes. At our local high school they were not.</p>
<p>Yeah lots of schools determine it after the first semester of Senior year.
Wow that really blows, but hopefully the school will honor two Vals.
Get in touch with those schools…
Best of luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>As mentioned above, inform the colleges by letter immediately, explaining the details as you have to us. Promptness and honesty will impress them. </p>
<p>Colleges know that the difference between val and sal is infinitesimal, and usually a matter of curriculum rather than performance . (Johnny takes typing in the summer so aces 9th grade keyboarding, or Susie takes band which loses a .5 for non-AP, etc.)</p>
<p>Should the request for double valedictorians not be granted, this is also an opportunity for your daughter to learn to accept the arbitrariness of some of life’s snafus, and how to exercise grace and acceptance.</p>
<p>Our school district also determines val and sal at the penultimate semester and weights dual enrolled classes the same as AP classes. And while high school classes taken in middle school are counted in class rank, the do not count for val and sal. You can imagine the murky water that one creates! I wholeheartedly agree with writing the letter to adcom, but I would also demand that the school honor her status as val. Good luck to you both and congratulations!</p>
<p>My son’s school made a mistake a few years ago when it named its Top 5 students. As soon as the list was announced, the parents and students immediately noticed that a top female student was excluded. Several of us immediately brought it to the principal’s attention who just passed it off as the GC’s job to identify the top 5. I told the principal that it was part of his job to KNOW who his top 5 students are and that it shocked me that the faculty had already heard the list and hadn’t noticed the glaring mistake that virtually every parent and student had immediately noticed. (Actually, it turned out that the AP English teacher had noticed the oversight, but had been ignored when she brought up the possible error.) </p>
<p>Sure enough, a mistake was made. Instead of embarrassing one girl who was now #6, the school just announced the Val and Top 6 that year at graduation.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t notify any colleges UNTIL her school makes their decision. If I were you I would make such a big stink all the way up to the School Board. This is not right to do to a child. They definitely should honor 2 vals. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks all–it was sorted out and the HS will honor 2 vals. Wrote a strongly worded letter to counselor who went to bat for us but I am disgusted w/ the lack of professionalism and feel it should have been sorted out before my poor D. was involved. Maybe they just wanted to see if she would eat the S*** sandwich. This is all par for the course in this backwater. Counsellor shared that there are 2 different ranking systems at work and that although my D is class ranked '1" it doesn’t make her val according to their (strange, mysterious, backwater) “formula”.</p>