<p>It is to my knowledge that originally, the definition of "valedictorian" refers to the student with the highest weighted GPA in his/her graduating class. Obviously, many schools developed their own rules for what qualifies as a "valedictorian". At my school, the rules to be a valedictorian is that you have to take at least 4 AP's in your entire high school career (my school offers 25 AP classes) and have a 4.00 UNweighted GPA (all A's).</p>
<p>I recently got my first B in high school during my first semester of my senior year. Despite my B, I'm still ranked 1/713 weighted but my rank dropped to 17/713 unweighted, which means there's going to be 16 valedictorians at our graduating class this year. I lose my qualification even though I am ranked 1st in my class. Summarily, I took 15 AP's, got all A's, one B, and don't qualify while another person who took 4 AP's, got all A's, and qualifies.</p>
<p>Before I go any further, I just want to mention that I am NOT trying to be elitist in any sort of matter. I don't want to eliminate other valedictorians. I don't want to be the sole valedictorian and hog the attention. It just seems unfair to me that those who challenged themselves lose an honorary privilege while those who took the easy path get to sustain it. Pretty much, this is the message my school's giving me (obviously didn't say):
"You took 15 AP classes? *** were you thinking? Of course you lose valedictorian eligibility"</p>
<p>I am fully aware that for colleges, it's all weighted fairly and that I'm in a good position. (Please don't get started on "why are you complaining? you have a decent rank, etc...") Still, I can't help but feel a bit exasperated as being valedictorian was a dream I had and it comes crashing down cause I took too many AP classes. Is it worth bringing this up to the committee at my school? I know many other fellow students that are highly ranked weighted but don't qualify as well as past students. If so, are there any other reasons I should elucidate?</p>
<p>Well I’m losing valedictorian at my school because another student was able to take one more ap class, ap french, than me because I took spanish and no ap spanish is offered. Both of us have 4.0’s UNweighted. Moral of the story: s*** happens</p>
<p>perhaps “dream” was too strong of a word. fine, it was a goal i really wanted to achieve ever since i set foot in high school. a “dream” of mine would be getting accepted to the university of pennsylvania.</p>
<p>It’s not sad at all, at least in my opinion.</p>
<p>@tmos67- The same thing kinda happen to me this year. Me and my contender for the #1 title had the exact same course load complete with 5 weighted courses, except that she was in Spanish 4 (AP credit) and I was in French 4 (No AP Credit). Though both classes had the same course load and prepare you for the AP test, why was I being punished for taking French over Spanish? I petitioned this to the administration, and they granted it, changing it to an honors course, making it so we both had an equal chance. Fast forward to the end of last semester, she got one B (making her GPA for the semester a 4.8), and I got all A’s (making my GPA for the semester a 5.0) so I beat her. Had I not even bothered to make the class equal, we’d at the MOST be tied right now with her 1st semester 4.8 with one B and my 1st semester GPA with all A’s. THAT would not have been fair at all, since we had the EXACT same rigor or schedule.</p>
<p>Tying this back to the OP: It doesn’t hurt to try. Set up a strong argument and maybe you’ll be met by success. Prove to them that the current system is unfair and doesn’t properly reward the most effort and success. Even if you fail, at least you know you tried. Being valedictorian is one of my dreams too, so I know just how you feel. ;)</p>
<p>There is no original or official definition of valedictorian … each school/each district has their own … so there is no “correct” definition. A lot of schools use unweighted GPAs to determine vals … including mine a million years ago.</p>
<p>You certainly can petition to change your schools rules for picking the val … if you do you should have an objective rationale for making a change … and I would think the school already has considered the pros and cons of how to address the weighting of courses. One last thought … even if the school does decide to change it rules for vals I can’t imagine it will change the rules for the class of 2010 or 2011 at least … it would be very tough to change the rules at the end of the process and regigger the rankings now.</p>
<p>If you search CC you’ll find quite a few threads on this topic and there are about as many opinions of how GPAs should be determined as there are posters on CC.</p>
<p>Bring it up and make sure that you have a strong argument, which you inherently do given the circumstances, but make sure that you’re polite about it. Don’t back down, but remember that it isn’t the end of the world if you don’t get it, even though you should. And remember, even if they did give it to you, you would be sharing it with 16 other people. There’s not a whole lot of honor in that.</p>
<p>There’s nothing “attention hogging-like” for wanting to be the sole valedictorian if your rank is 1/713. That’s what the valedictorian is. The ONE student with the highest rank.</p>
<p>1/600 is still riduculously great. heck, i was impressed with somebody who was 3/300</p>
<p>To OP: I understand your frustration, but just remember that, as you already have mentioned, you will have the edge with college admissions. In other words, don’t be too angry if the school denies your request. Still, there really is no harm in asking your school for consideration, just see what happens.</p>
<p>In the one case where someone argued for valedictorian status at my school, and received it, everyone heard and thought he was whiny for doing so. If you don’t care about what others will think, go ahead. You can’t be val if you don’t ask.</p>
<p>hey man i totally understand the frustration you have… i mean, im a junior right now, but im ranked number 2 in my class and the guy who’s number 3 is on my a**, so i have a feeling im gonna be REALLY mad if he takes over as number 2. seriously, i think you should go ahead and petition / let them know about it, cuz dude! you’re 1/713!! i would totally feel the same way as you do if i were in your situation. </p>
<p>good luck. i wish you the best. and congrats!</p>
<p>I’m sorry if I offend you, but I agree with what your school implied. What the heck were you thinking by taking that many APs? Of course taking more APs means that you have a higher risk of getting an unwanted grade (and you did). And if you really wanted to be valedictorian, you should have planned this all out. You should have played this smart; you should have thought about how taking a few APs with good grades is better than taking many and yielding bad grades.
Anyway, I wish you the best and good luck!</p>
<p>Honestly, ranking doesn’t even matter. Being the valedictorian has absolutely no affect on you once you leave High School, and no one will care in the real world.</p>
<p>Think about it from their side… Is it in their interest to change the rules? If not then you will just annoy them and they won’t change the rules (people are stubborn like that)</p>