<p>At my school, it’s this big important announcement announced at the school’s Memorial Day Senior Barbecue. It’s decided only after college admissions. Here’s how it works.
On New Year’s Day, the school posts on our website the top 5 candidates purely in terms of GPA. Then, after Ivy day and decisions are released, a committee gathers to study the candidates. The criteria is 70% GPA, 10 % Admissions, 20% Cumulative Midterm and Final Exam Scores. (Our finals are the two weeks after the AP tests, so the decisions only come out after the finals are graded). The admissions criteria means quality of the college you’re going to, based on the school rankings. Since MIT is higher ranked at my school than Cornell, the person going to MIT would get more points in that category. For the MT and F scores, the school just finds your average MT/F grade and ranks the students there.
It’s a ridiculous process, but there are reasons for the other two categories. MT/F grades aren’t included in GPA, only in our transcript, and one year, when the Val was going to PSU and the Sal to Princeton, the Sal’s parents raised holy hell, and that complicated criteria came in.
Anyway, I’m a candidate this year, and I know that I won’t finish first in Admissions because two are going to Princeton, which is of higher rank than my Yale. I think everything would be simpler if it was just plain GPA.
So tell me, how does your Valedictorian choosing work? Is it just based on grades, is there a cut off, or is there a whole nutty complicated process like mine?</p>
<p>100% weighted GPA on 100 point scale, down to the third decimal. Composited 11th-12th grade.</p>
<p>Since when was Yale lower ranked than Princeton? In my books, Yale is either higher or same as Princeton.</p>
<p>Well, according to Newsweek and my school, that’s the case.
I should mention that the GPA is weighted.</p>
<p>Our’s is strictly based on a waited GPA on a 4.0 scale. Frosh-Senior year count</p>
<p>My son’s school bases it completely on weighted GPA at the end of the first semester of senior year, with one rather odd twist: you are only eligible if you take 4 years to graduate. My son is a 3-year graduate and is ranked first in BOTH the junior and senior classes and by a substantial margin (about 0.2 points) yet can’t be the official valedictorian. His thoughts? Great, I don’t have to make a speech! Nevertheless the transcript will reflect his #1 class rank and the Val is technically #2.</p>
<p>That’s totally weird. I think they’re taking the valedictorian title a little too seriously. I’m shocked they factor in admission results. That seems like a poor policy. </p>
<p>Highest WGPA over all 4 years. Final calculation uses third quarter grades of senior year rather than the entire second semester to prevent the delay.</p>
<p>Ours is quite anticlimactic, really–a board “selects” the most “well-rounded” applicant from the pool of salutatorians (ranked by unweighted GPA). The only difference about being valedictorian is the speech.</p>
<p>we don’t have valedictorian or salutatorian.</p>
<p>The hs selects one (or 2?) students to give speeches. Not based on GPA. I’ll check with my daughter, but it seems to be based on who the administrtors thinks will give a good speech…</p>
<p>For the years I’ve been around, there’s never been any argument or scuttlebutt about it. Each class is about 300 or so kids, competitive school, and it seems to work out well.</p>
<p>our school does simple unweighted gpa - aka, anyone with a perfect gpa is a valedictorian. this year there are 5, which is unusually high. usually it works out pretty well getting it down to one or a two-way tie. i actually like that they don’t weight the gpas because there’s no trying to take certain schedules just for rank. and, it’s always simple and clear-cut: if you want to be valedictorian, maintain all a’s. then again, if i had been someone who missed out on it to someone who had never taken an ap because i got an a- in one or something, i’d probably feel differently.</p>
<p>The OP’s school sounds ridiculous-factoring in admission? Let alone ranking universities like that.
Just curious, is it based on the college the applicant ultimately attends or all universities in which she has been admitted to?</p>
<p>At my school, it’s all the 4.0 unweighted, freshman through 1st semester senior year. Which ends up being usually 10 people.
Then a school committee picks one b ased on ECs, classes taken, stuff like that</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me how to quote responses? I want to comment on all of yours.</p>
<p>[qoute] stuff to quote [/qoute]</p>
<p>except spell quote correctly</p>
<p>PS - the way your school determines vals is nuts</p>
<p>Valedictorian at my high school is the person with the highest weighted GPA. They don’t disclose- or even calculate- unweighted GPAs at all. Salutatorian has the next-highest weighted GPA, etc., and everyone down to the very last person is ranked. And, like several of those who have posted above me, only our grades through the first semester of senior year are factored into class rank standing. </p>
<p>Both valedictorian and salutatorian make speeches at graduation. Ironically, the valedictorian (which in Latin literally means “speaking last”) usually opens the graduation ceremony.</p>
<p>I agree that your school’s process is the oddest I’ve heard of, OP! Congratulations on Yale, by the way :)</p>
<p>Highest weighted GPA on 100pt scale (honors classes receive +5, APs and IBs receive +10). If the top two ranked students’ GPAs are within .1 points of each other, they are declared co-valedictorians and there is no salutatorian.</p>
<p>
Well, some parents raised holy hell after the val got into a much less prestigious school than the sal. The board really had no choice.</p>
<p><quote>The OP’s school sounds ridiculous-factoring in admission? Let alone ranking universities like that.
Just curious, is it based on the college the applicant ultimately attends or all universities in which she has been admitted to?</quote>
Yes, it is based on attendance, not admission. Again, makes no sense, but that’s what they do.</p>
<p>
Thanks, congrats on Wharton.</p>
<p>Weighted GPA freshman - senior year.</p>
<p>You have to have straight A’s all the way from freshman year. NO B’s!
Also, if you take more AP’s than someone, you beat them for vally position.
There’s usually two or three people who take the same classes (AP & All), all have straight A’s, and then when it comes to that, teachers vote and pick!</p>
<p>I think at my school there could be more than one vally… O.o a lot of people I know have rank 1/3xx on their transcript. But only ONE get to make a speech @ gradauation!</p>
<p>^Wow, I wish I had 1/121 on my transcript instead of 2/121 for having a 4.0. It would have really helped.</p>