<p>I have the following question. (I have Googled and looked back on CC and have not found an answer.)</p>
<p>Do high schools use only one grouping system or do they report whichever is closest for each individual case? Or maybe which is the most favorable looking?</p>
<p>Let’s say a high school student (if the HS did rankings) was 99th out of 400 students.</p>
<p>The HS, if it used a quintile system, would report that student is in the second quintet (sp?) (top 40 percent).</p>
<p>But the student also just squeaked by into the top quarter, which sounds better. So, the student (using quartile rankings) could say he was in the top (first) 25 percent.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Can the student legitimately claim that he is in the top 25 percent?</p></li>
<li><p>Can (would) the school report that he is in the top 25 percent?</p></li>
<li><p>Do schools stick to only one grouping system and that’s it - wherever the student happens to fall?</p></li>
<li><p>Do schools report whichever percentile happens to be the closest (most accurate)?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>High schools vary as to what they report in your transcript that goes to colleges. Many provide specific rank. Others do not provide specific rank but provide GPA ranges that are in top 10%, 10% to 20%, etc. or top 10%, top 10% to 25%, 25% to 50%, and other possible variations. Those that do that usually don’t say the specific student is in that percentage, but you can determine it from ranges given and the students GPA given on the transcript. In other words, you have to contact your specific high school to see what it actually reports. Whatever it reports, it will usually not vary from the method used for a specific student.</p>
<p>You need to ask YOUR specific high school how they report things. Ask for a sample college insert. Also before your kid gets his/her stuff sent out, ask to see exactly what the school is sending out for him, other than the recs which are confidential. Yes, mistakes are made, info is often outdated. If that 's the case, you can request some corrections to be noted. if the inserts are not going to be redone in time. But do ask your counselors exactly how the ranking is done. Schools vary greatly on how they do these things. Also, many schools have a “sanitized” process on what they provide to colleges which many not mesh with in house records.</p>
<p>Our high school reports exact numbers. In your example the transcript would say that the student was 99 out of 400 or 75.25% (top 24.25%)</p>
<p>I would hope most high schools do it this way. Some colleges fund scholarships based on a spefic class rank. How could they do that if the transacript didnt report it ?</p>