I’m a junior in high school and I’ve dreamed of being valedictorian for the longest time. I feel like I have a pretty good chance but then again, the kids my class are not to be taken lightly. Anyway, over the summer my family plans to go overseas and I look forward to going as well. But with my goal in mind, I might need to haul a few classes on my schedule over the summer via FLVS. Honestly, do you guys think it’s worth it? I plan on going to a not-so-selective college (abt 45% acceptance rate) but I do intend on aiming for great scholarships. Do colleges care about ranks at all?
Val is bestowed after you hear back from colleges. Being Val might make you eligible for some colleges’ additional scholarship money. But really that’s all. If it happens, great. But don’t expend energy vying for it. That’s foolish, IMHO. No one really cares besides your grandma
Go on vacation
Find out if it would make a difference to the college of your choice. Is it more about GPA/SAT scores? or class rank?
Is there a possibility that you would look at other colleges?
If not ,then ask yourself in 10 years would you wish you had gone for it, if only for yourself, or was it of no particular use so enjoy your summer.
It’s always good to try your best. I agree with @bopper …do you have any other colleges you might want to go to? Even if you don’t right now, you might change your mind and it might be a good thing to maintain a good high school resume.
There are better, more efficient uses of your efforts that will make you stand out for scholarship money than overloading with courses (ie using the time to apply for more scholarships). Valedictorian is nice but from a practical standpoint I don’t think it’s worth going through the trouble if you already have a high rank. Also, are you certain that your high school factors FLVS courses into your GPA? Some schools offer credit but don’t include it in GPA.
First off, thank you guys for your input. And as far as my research goes, I don’t think the college I want to go to cares too much about ranks. I believe it’s most about GPA and SAT/ACT scores. But anyhow, I will try but if I don’t get it then…well… life goes on.
I’m not understanding the “go for it” part. Is Valedictorian something you have to apply for?
Probably means selecting high school course work (including perhaps summer courses that otherwise would not be taken, or not taking some desired extra course) in order to game the high school’s class ranking system in competition with the other potential valedictorians.
For example, at some schools, consider a schedule of 6 weighted honors or AP courses, and a student get earns A grades in all of them. If the student takes just those 6 courses, s/he may have a higher weighted GPA than if s/he took the same 6 courses plus an additional non-weighted elective (often something like band or orchestra). I.e. taking the more rigorous schedule results in a lower weighted GPA, possibly worsening his/her class rank. So a student trying for valedictorian may choose the less rigorous schedule.
In my honest opinion, I would probably go for it. Being valedictorian is something that no one can take away from you, and something that you can be proud of for the rest of your life. But just remember how much it would suck if you don’t get it and you wasted your summer taking classes… I am number 3 in my class, one spot from a speech on graduation day (number 1 and number 2 speak at graduation at my school), and I wish I would’ve had the opportunity to take some summer classes and make up for my 3.4 uw gpa 1st semester freshman year.
It would be foolhardy to sell out your education just to be HS Valedictorian.
Ha Ha. You could execute a cunning plan only to have someone transfer in to your school who then takes it.
Family time is WAY more important than Valedictorian! You can’t get that time back with them. But, you’ll have other achievements to earn along your way in life. Since each HS has different ways of choosing Val, I think colleges will look at it holistically. You never know if your trip will give you great things to write about in your essays. I think your essays will hold more weight than Valedictorian.
I am that “transfer student.” I came to my school this year (11th grade) and I’ve probably taken the most rigorous classes out of everyone. I feel like I deserve the position but like @illinoisgolf said, it really would suck if I put in that much effort and couldn’t reach the top.
It’s just a number. I’m salutatorian and #1 for most of high school, but our ranks aren’t based on weighted grades and the guy against me literally took 6-10 band and drama classes, ie . guaranteed 100s to pad his average. Point is, all that happens is you get a speech that is usually forgotten relatively quickly and a title that is only partially based on merit. If you’d like to take classes because you need something to fill up your sumner, by all means enroll, but otherwise spend it doing something that’ll improve you as a person.