I think the point of looking at class rank is sort of like why we have currency exchange rates, so you know what your unit of currency is worth in comparison to others. Because some areas have high grade inflation it may not be fair to say my 3.95 is actually worth more than someone else's 3.7 GPA. However, every student in a school experiences approximately the same degree of grade inflation, thereby I CAN say that my 3.95 is higher than a 3.7 at the same school. The class rank seems to serve as a way to accurately compare multiple relatively closed systems on a universal scale. Again using the monies analogy, If I were to say, "I will give you one hundred for that bowl." you would have no idea how much I am actually offering because a hundred is worth different amounts depending on who is backing it and the strength of that currency. What am I offering you? 100 yen? 100 dollars? What kind of dollars, USD? How can I tell? By telling you the currency unit I am identifying where that 100 units stand relative to its peers (other currencies). Similarly, if I say I have a 3.8 GPA that means very little compared to I have a 3.8 GPA and was ranked 12 out of 700 (unlikely, but used to illustrate a point...how much more value does that GPA now have? What conclusions are we drawing from that information?) That's all I have to say on that...in the end I think class ranking is incredibly important and I am sad to hear that some schools or districts are thinking of omitting it.
Dr. Edmiston,
I am curious how much weight class rank carries over ACT/SAT. I can see granting a scholarship to someone with an ACT of 27 class rank 86/700 over someone with an ACT of 28 class rank 423/700, but where is the cut off? How many percentage points is one ACT point worth? Obviously you would not place an ACT of 21 class rank 100/700 over an ACT of 32 class rank 101/700 (I hope =) I am curious if you have an actual formula that you follow for that, and if so what it is.
Please note that these figures are, again, exaggerated to illustrate a point.