I have no magic solutions, but I have more information.
(1) I have served on the Admissions and Scholarship Committee several
times in the last 29 years. Historically there has been a reason that
class rank was considered a good indicator of college success. As I
describe below, that may be changing, but first I will describe why it
has been considered a good predictor.
High school grades are not considered a good predictor because high
schools differ so much in terms of what an A (or B or C) means or
doesn't mean. Even ACT and SAT scores are problematic because students
from a rural, or inner city, or poor schools might not get the same
breadth or same academic atmosphere as a richer or private school even
though some of those students are very bright. When that is the case,
they might succeed very well in college even with a medium ACT/SAT
score. However, one thing the bright students have tended to do is rise
to the top of whatever situation they are in. Therefore, even though
the top few students from a "weak" school might not show well on
standardized exams, they did rise to the top at their school, and they
are likely to try to do the same thing in college. That doesn't mean
they will succeed, but they are likely to try, and they likely did
develop some good study habits and time management skills in their rise
to the top.
At my institution, as is often the case, students in the top 10% of
their high-school class qualify for better scholarships and for our
honors program, etc.
(2) One reason this is changing is grade inflation is so bad that there
are multiple students getting 4.0 GPA in high schools. In a large
school this can run into the tens of students or even scores of
students. Depending on the year, my local high school graduates 75 to
100 students each year. In 2004 when my daughter graduated, there were
three students out of 84 with 4.0 GPA. That was a considerable
improvement from when my son graduated in 2000 and there were 15
students with 4.00 out of 104 in the class.
Thus, in 2000, if you didn't have a 4.0 at Bluffton High School, you
weren't even in the top 10% of your class.
It was asked how these multiple 4.0 students are reported in terms of
class rank. They were all reported as 1 of 84 (in 2004) or 1 of 104 (in
2000). My daughter was one of the 4.0 students in 2004, and was
therefore one of three valedictorians. [Aside... There was a period
when some colleges in Ohio were giving full-tuition scholarships to
class valedictorians. Unfortunately that ended before my daughter
graduated, because multiple valedictorians became too common. So my
daughter is currently in college with some level of scholarship, but
nothing near full tuition.] Anyway, it states on her transcript (which
is the only thing the college admissions people see concerning class
rank) that she graduated 1 of 84. But of course there were two other
students with transcripts saying that. The person who had one B grade
in all of 4 years of high school is a good friend of my daughter, and
his transcript says his class rank was 4 of 84.
(3) Another reason class rank is losing its meaning is because there are
now ways for "motivated students" to rise to the top that don't include
the preferred type of scholarly activity. Instead of rising to the top
by working hard and mastering the material, you can take the alternative
route of mastering the game of "extra credit." To make matters worse,
the extra credit often does not have relate to the particular
curriculum. At many schools students can get extra chemistry credit for
showing up for a special breakfast on "mole day" (pi day for math
folks). They can fill out a 3x5 card on something they read in Science
News or similar publication and get extra credit in chemistry even if
the article is about astronomy. The list is long.
When the college admissions and scholarship folks see a 4.0 student
ranked 1 out of N students, not only is it unknown how may others were
ranked 1 of N, but it also is unknown whether the particular student
being considered for scholarships got to the number-one slot by
mastering the material or mastering extra credit.
Once these students matriculate, it is obvious to me which students
mastered extra credit, because they come to me when they realize they
aren't going to get an A in my class, and they want to know if I can
give them some extra credit assignments. When I say no, and suggest
they work more problems in the back of the chapter, and I offer to help
them when they're stuck on a problem, but I won't give extra credit... I
often hear, "But if I get a B in this class it will be the first time in
my life that I didn't get an A." Although I have to struggle to keep
from being sarcastic, I try to be kind as I tell them that they have to
get their first B sometime, and the likelihood of going through life and
always being 1st in the class is very, very small.
Final general remarks... I thought, roughly 30 years ago, that class
rank was a pretty good indicator of scholarship. Grade inflation is now
so bad that many students rank 1 of N. Couple that with the curse of
extra credit and not knowing which students took the extra-credit route
to high class rank, and my opinion of class rank is greatly diminished.
I have been aware of grade inflation for some time, so I know grades
can't be trusted. I know some students shine in college who don't have
the highest ACT scores. But for many years class rank seemed a pretty
good indicator. Now I don't even trust that. Something needs to
change. I suppose I would start by eliminating extra credit and taking
other steps to reverse grade inflation.
My wife teaches 5th grade in the Bluffton system. We know most of the
teachers throughout the school system fairly well. We have been
actively campaigning to get teachers to fight grade inflation and
eliminate extra credit. It is not clear we are making any progress. I
also advise the chemistry and physics Bluffton University students
heading into HS teaching. I keep contact with them after they graduate,
particularly if they teach within about 50 miles of here. They tell me
the extra-credit situation is rampant throughout the area.
An anecdotal experience... I mentioned that my son's class of 2000 had
15 of 104 students with 4.0 GPA. I know all of those students. I know
all but one maintained a 4-point by massive extra credit. I also know
there was another slug of students who had GPAs of 3.9+ and 3.8+, many
of whom got those grades by massive extra credit, although some did
indeed get those grades without much extra credit. My son, on the other
hand, absolutely refused to do any extra credit, and he ended up with a
3.72 GPA, and that is probably a pretty good indication of his
scholarship. He was ranked 31 out of 104 students. The guidance
counselor, a friend of mine, told me that my son's ACT score was 2nd
highest in the class, and most of the 4-pointers were at least 5 points
below him. So he graduated with a 3.72 GPA, had significanly higher ACT
score than most students ranked ahead of him, but he didn't even
graduate in the top 25% of his class. That means he not only did not
get offered scholarships at many colleges to which he applied, he didn't
even get accepted at some of the selective schools who don't accept
students below the top 25%. I am not talking about Ivy League schools
because he did not apply to any schools outside of Ohio, Indiana, and
Michigan. I'm certainly not saying he would have been 1st if there
hadn't been a massive extra-credit system which he refused to play, but
I'm reasonably sure he would have been in the top 10%, and I'm positive
he would have been in the top 25%.
As I said, this is anecdotal, but I believe it is generally true that a
student who does not play the extra credit game can get pretty beat up
in terms of class rank.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Physics and Chemistry
Bluffton University
Bluffton, OH 45817
(419)-358-3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu