<p>In our district in TX, they spell it out in the school handbook that class rank is calculated thru the 1st semester of senior year.</p>
<p>Yes, our school finalizes ranks at the end of the 1st semester also. I think most schools do as announcements of the ranks are always known and published in local papers long before graduation day. I can imagine your son’s disappointment…</p>
<p>The calculation of class rank does allow for some manipulation.
Our school does not count dual-credit (college courses) toward GPA so a couple of kids take the harder classes at colleges and concentrate on fewer classes at the HS to boost GPA.</p>
<p>Thank you. Maybe calculating through first semester is more common than we thought. He’s not that disappointed.</p>
<p>Our HS calculates through the end of the first semester.</p>
<p>Every school should have a policy and it should be in writing and available to anyone who wants to see it</p>
<p>Our HS also ranks based on 1st semester too</p>
<p>I think most schools make the determination after first semester of senior year, because the actual final grades won’t be tabulated and compared in time to plan the graduation ceremony.</p>
<p>We may be the outlier here. Rank is calculated using final grades. After finals there is a three day gap before graduation. It is announced the day of graduation rehearsal. In reality, it is usually known about a week prior as Srs who have straight As all four quarters are exempt from the final, so most years the top several students are exempt in all courses and the calculation can be made. Only the Val and Sal are told early so they can write their speeches and they can be approved.</p>
<p>Our high school calculates through 1st semester. Valedictorian is defined as top 2% (so since we have about 300 kids in the class, there are 6 valedictorians). There is very little difference in the top 6 except, most have gotten the same grades with the same number of APs. The one with the highest GPA took all the same classes, but didn’t take “extras” (band, journalism, production drama, etc…) which diluted the GPAs of the others. So had their been only one, it would not really have been fair.</p>
<p>My friend told me in her daughter’s school, honors and APs are counted the same way. I think in many other schools, if they did ranking this way, there would be ties at the end of high school.</p>
<p>In my D’s school, Honors and AP are counted the same, a grade of 100 = 6.0
Regular classes, a grade of 100 = 5.0 or the same as a 90 in Honors/ AP classes.
Remedial classes, a grade of 100 = 4.0 or the same as a 80 in Honors/ AP classes.</p>
<p>But that does not lead directly to ties. GPA are calculated to the 2 decimal digits, it’s not easy to get ties.
I believe,
The Val has 5.57 GPA (equals to avg of 95.57/ 100)
Sal has 5.55
3rd 5.53
4th 5.52</p>
<p>What kind of benefit does a val have? college admission, scholarships? …</p>
<p>
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<p>Not much other than giving a speech and getting your name in the graduation handout one more time. Being ranked #1 does help improve your acceptance odds at selective colleges, but you can be ranked #1 without being val, depending on the school’s rules. At my son’s high school, for example, he was ranked #1 in both his junior class and his senior class but wasn’t eligible to be val because he graduated in 3 years rather than 4. This quirk pleased him immensely because he did not want to give a vetted speech in front of 500 people.</p>
<p>All things considered, being ranked #1 at the end of junior year is better than being val because that’s the transcript that the colleges use to determine admission.</p>
<p>Just want to say that my daughter was valedictorian at her school, but did not find out until 2 days before graduation. That being said it is fairly a “worthless” honor college wise. She was ranked 2nd when transcripts were sent to colleges so I will never know what she could have gotten if 1st.</p>
<p>I have two kids currently receiving small ($1K/yr) valedictorian scholarships at their school. It’s not much, but every dollar helps…</p>
<p>Fire, I find it interesting you think of courses in terms of AP, honors, and remedial. Are there really no standard college prep courses at your school, or do you just feel anything below an honors class is remedial?</p>
<p>We have 4 AP (can only take 3 due to scheduling) AP and all other classes are regular. AP and a couple of DE classes are weighted by 1.25. Val/Sal are decided after last semester. </p>
<p>There is a lag of at least a week until graduation ceremonies so there is time for speech preparation. They keep it all hush-hush until the end. This just makes those in running more nervous at a stressful time. I think they should announce it a little earlier. </p>
<p>There are are special seats for val/sal’s parents at graduation. During S2’s year, one set of parents were sure their daughter was Val and sat accordingly. They announced, and it was other girl. Very embarassing for them and everyone who knew the protocol. That kind of <em>#</em># is easily avoided by the school.</p>
<p>My daughter has never received lower than a 99% quarter grade in her years as a high school student (she will be a senior next year). She has worked diligently to achieve this in her seven AP classes taken so far, but my husband has just been offered a work placement in Cincinnati that would require her to transfer high schools. This poses many problems for her.
First, we fear that the new school’s transcript might only report her letter grades, as I know many high schools do, thus showing no distinction between, say, 90% and 100% (she says she would be “OK” with reporting only the letter grade ONLY if the high school’s grading scale defined an “A” as a 95% or above; otherwise, she fears, colleges might assume she got a 90%). At this point, there is no discussion about the move, but my daughter says she would be willing to drive to and from school as far as it takes to find high school whose transcript reports only the letter grade on a grading scale with an “A” being designated as a 95% or above.
Secondly, she knows she will lose her position as first in her class because transferred transcripts do not maintain class rank. Is anyone aware of a school in the area that does not report class rank at all?
Thirdly, she wants to make sure to attend a school that would allow her to take seven periods of AP courses.</p>
<p>I’m well aware that this is a very convoluted list of criteria, but my daughter has worked too hard with extracurriculars and academics to see it all disturbed by an inconvenient family situation. Any suggestions of schools that fit any of the above descriptions would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>It will matter a LOT less than you think, or your daughter thinks. If she applies early, the review will be based on the first three years. </p>
<p>Work with the GC at your current school to prepare a narrative and details to submit to the next HS and the colleges. </p>
<p>The first place and the difference between 90 and 95 percent is NOT something to obsess about. It is entirely irrelevant. Doing well in the first months of senior is more important. The differences will come from EC and essays. Not from 99 versus 95 or 90 percent grades.</p>
<p>And lastly, relax on the seven APs. There is NO need to fill the trophy case.</p>