<p>Something really annoying about my school...</p>
<p>All GPA values that I will use to describe this problem is UW (Colleges only care about UW).</p>
<p>We have no +/- so colleges don't get to see my near 100s on transcript. +/- are not given extra gpa at all... </p>
<p>I got all 100s except ONE CLASS... </p>
<p>So now my gpa is 3.8 something while otherwise it would be something VERY high. one 89 and it all comes crashing down. </p>
<p>What bothers me is I'm Sal and the Val comes up to me and says "hah, so see my way works. Don't get a 100 in class just do the least possible. No one gives a !@#$ in life about your 100s..."</p>
<p>It annoys me so much, but I take pride in saying that I slammed a class. I do not believe getting 89.5 in EVERY class is as good as getting a 100 in every class cept 1</p>
<p>OMG Shut up... Smart people like you should be proud of yourselves... Oh just you got 99 on one, but 100 on the other... This is one of those disappointments that REALLY INTELLIGENT people believe in which is frankly absurd to me... I'd be happy to have one hundred to be the least...</p>
<p>Relax. Class rank is a joke anyway. Just be happy that you are sal. As long as you are in the top 5% or 10% your class rank won't hinder your chances at any school in the country.</p>
<p>It's okay. It's just a grade. I can guarantee you that it has absolutely no impact on your future success in life. Get over it and go do something fun.</p>
<p>Just be proud knowing you earned better grades than the val, and that the val played the system more than you. Sorry that the val rubbed it in your face like that, but truthfully no college cares if u are val or sal, just that u earned top grades in tough classes. (Just to note: I'm like the val, I slack off just enough to barely make an A).</p>
<p>I'm sorry to hear about that. It really sucks ... but hey, part of succeeding in life is knowing the system (and how to use it to your advantage); the Val seems to know this.</p>
<p>but then when it comes to teacher recs, yours will say "best in career. went above and beyond." and his will say "top ten 10%. did the least amount of work to get an A." and then he'll be somewhat screwed.</p>
<p>If I don't get into the school I am applying too (as in boarding school) I am screwed for even that. Teachers here right totally generic rec. depending on grade. In their eyes A+=A=A-...</p>
<p>Sometimes I wonder why people smart enough like you bother to post up something worthless and devoid of common sense as this. I'm being blunt as possible. Does that one extra grade really matter, if you've really gotten straight 100's?</p>
<p>Okay, you're Sal instead of Val, is that going to dramatically impact your entire life?</p>
<p>Assuming you are smarter than him in most fields, then be happy you have more knowledge in the long run.</p>
<p>Your GPA is not 3.8. It is more like 3.97 or something like that cumulative over four years. No big deal.</p>
<p>Put it this way - if you cared so much about slamming classes, then you achieved what you set out to do. Mission accomplished. You should be satisfied.</p>
<p>If you really cared about getting straight As, well then maybe you should have done what Mr./Ms. Val did and taken a bit of effort out of your 100 average classes and put it into the classes that you're struggling in. Your own fault there.</p>
<p>You cannot complain that your school does not do A+/A- because you knew about this from the very beginning and chose not to exploit it. Your own fault.</p>
<p>Each graduating class the only person that goes to Ivies or Stanford is the Val... Why is that? Probably becuause 95% of our class applies there...</p>
<p>Oh well I don't really care, if Harvard cares more about an A- than about a 100 then I don't even want to go there..</p>
<p>Thanks for the support guys, however blunt... I am going to continue to slam the classes rather than be borderline :)</p>
<p>I like this, because it's impossible to get A+ in AP classes at my school, and very difficult to get As, whereas in honors classes (which are weighted the same) it's very easy. So it actually makes things more fair. </p>
<p>Borderlines are always annoying, but I'm one of those well rounded people who can scrape A-'s a lot so the system works for me.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Oh well I don't really care, if Harvard cares more about an A- than about a 100 then I don't even want to go there..
[/quote]
</p>
<p>If you could point out to me the exact place where this has been said, I would appreciate it. I had trouble finding it.</p>
<p>In any case, not applying to where you want to go because of one B is ludicrous. Salutatorian/valedictorian or any class rank does not matter that much. Being salutatorian does not eliminate you from contention, just as being valedictorian does not guarantee acceptance.</p>
<p>I will say that the valedictorian appears to be a stuck-up jerk. Doing the minimum amount of work just to get an 89.5-90 average in all classes is not the way to go. However, I stand by my statement that if you see yourself struggling in a potential-B class, then you should increase the effort in that class while removing some from 100-average classes. You can still slam classes and have straight As. Which looks better in your opinion:</p>