<p>This discussion is mostly about prep schools, as virtually all public school calculate class rank. Among prep school, there are thousands nationally. In an effort to forestall excessive competition among relatively small graduating classes and a desire not to force rank students in class where most may good students, but someone has to finish last, the schools have gone to an no class rank system. </p>
<p>To further forestall excessive competition, and recognize that even base level courses are challenging at their school, some challenging or elite preps have chosen to make their GPA’s unweighted and not offer additional quality points for honors or AP courses.</p>
<p>The weighted versus unweighted issue is one the Ivies have to deal with because even though many challenging prep schools and some public school do not rank their classes, most public schools and some prep schools introduce weighting into their GPA, which will in turn be used to calculate the student’s AI. According to the table on the attached link, you get a .3 GPA bump if your school does not use weighting in calculating your GPA. Thus, if class rank is used to calculate your AI, an unweighted GPA can be .3 lower than a weighted GPA to get the same AI points.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.academicrecruits.com/crs%20final.pdf[/url]”>http://www.academicrecruits.com/crs%20final.pdf</a></p>
<p>One the other hand, you do not get the benefit of the additional quality points that honors and AP bring to an Ivy applicants GPA. If a student has taken a very heavy load of honors and AP courses and performed well, his weighted GPA could beat the .3 disadvantage that weighted GPAs have over unweighted GPA.</p>
<p>For some challenging prep schools that do not weight the GPA, they can make the argument that their students get the .3 bump plus the benefit of their school’s reputation and relationships with Ivy admissions officers that high schools that offer weighting but not as well known to the Ivies can offer.</p>
<p>The key points here are:</p>
<p>I. It’s a significant advantage to be applying from a school that does not rank it’s graduating class. You get more AI points for a respectable GPA versus the class rank that GPA would earn in most schools.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The weighted GPA versus unweighted GPA does not have significant effect on the AI. The gross difference between the same numeric GPA weighted versus unweighted is 3 to 4 AI points at most. The weighted GPA student would have to take a significant number of honors and AP classes and get the same grade that he would have earned in a regular level course to beat the .3 disadvantage for weighting grades.</p></li>
<li><p>The real opportunity to move one’s AI score is in SAT prep. An additional 100 points on the CR+M sections of the SAT will get you an additional 10 AI points. A .5 increase in one’s cumulative GPA will get you 6 - 8 AI points, depending on where you fall on the scale. Targeted math, verbal, and test taking preparation can easily generate a 100 - 200 point SAT score increase, raising one’s AI 10 - 20 points.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>A word of advice. If you are interested in the Ivies, get and initial SAT score early in your junior year to see where you stand. If additional preparation is needed, there is still time to get this done before the end of the junior year. You then go into the summer before your senior with a baseline class rank or GPA and SAT scores - the two components needs for Ivy coaches to put together a trial AI and determine if you can meet their admissions hurdle before they get serious about recruiting you.</p>
<p>The Ivy coaches cast a broader net than other D1 schools, because of the challenge of admission. In basketball, for example, during your junior year you may be getting mail once a month - so are several hundred other prospects. You may be getting regular phone calls from an assistant coach - so are several dozen other prospects. All for 4 - 6 potential slots. The best thing you can do is to work on your game, make the best grades you can, and prepare for the SAT and make good scores. Once you have done that, get your high school coach to contact the coaches of target Ivy schools, share your profile and get a read on if you are a prospect and if they have a need. If so, invest the money and go to their elite camp the summer before your senior year. Not just for one dream school, but for a couple of schools. If the stars align, you have met the first cut of getting the academic qualification done and you’ll get a chance to show your game off in a controlled setting.</p>