We didn’t have val or sal or rank , and we didn’t have a “popular” group either. Very small Quaker school in NYC, class of about 40. We did have athletes, artists, musicians, actors, some of whom were already working professionally in HS. Some still are working as actors or related, we have some executives and at least one prominent journalist, some lawyers and other professionals.
When I read OP I wondered if this was looking to prove or disprove a stereotype like “football star becomes local insurance agent and marries head cheerleader who becomes SAHM” and the “nerd starts a billion dollar company” type thread?