<p>We have rankings, but the valedictorian and salutatorian are not necessarily the top two graduating kids. They’re elected by the student body. Both give speeches at graduation and get trophies (or something). However, this does not affect college admissions, since they are elected in the spring, long after applications are due.</p>
<p>instead of valedictorians, our school just did “honor grads”- about 20 or so of kids of the top 5% gpa
there were some grumblings about honor grads being handed out to kids who didn’t even take ap’s, but i thought it was a fair system, since it gave students of all classes a fair chance.</p>
<p>
SAME.
I remember one senior girl who had a 3.0 GPA and a 27 on her ACT. She had leadership skills though–homecoming queen, great community service, president of the student council. There were better choices though. :|</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>We do the exact same thing, except it’s not a popularity vote. It was a pretty involved, well-spoken [and yes, somewhat popular] boy. He’s going to Amherst. Seniors elect the valedictorian that they think will give the best speech. His speech was excellent [better than the commencement speaker’s-the president of Dartmouth].</p>
<p>We have one dude as valedictorian…calculated by highest weighted GPA</p>