Class Rank can be very misleading for all of the reasons previously mentioned. I was quite concerned about my own DS's Class Rank which was just inside the Top 20%. His weighted GPA is 4.44
Our county is reportedly in the process of doing away with Class Rank. Thank goodness. Students and parents obsess over its importance. Should honors be weighted more or less than AP? Is AP calculus the same as AP psychology? What about un-weighted classes like JROTC, physical education, drivers-ed, etc...?
Our school is also a magnet school for Computer Science. I believe that those students receive some type of GPA boost as well. If you want to be in the top 5% at my DS's high school, you pretty much have to determine that before you begin registering for 9th grade classes. Many students will pay to take drivers-ed outside of school so that it won't lower their GPA. Other students simply forgo getting their license. Students will look to be medically excused from physical education or take summer gym, as it is another GPA killer.
Early bird classes is another way students add up weighted courses. They come in extremely early to take an 8th class. Rigor is not necessarily a factor because honors and AP are weighted equally in our county. Many kids essentially repeat classes. They take honors BIO and then take AP BIO. Same thing with CHEM. It's essentially the same coursework.
I'm biased toward the Standardized Tests like ACT and SAT. It's not perfect, but I don't know of a better way unless the SA's devise their own test? Maybe not such a bad idea?
My other pet peeve with Class Rank is how easy it can be manipulated. I don't know anyone that got their SAT score changed, but plenty of people get their high school grades changed. There was a recent post here about a kid that got a 79 and "C" on his calculus 7th semester report card. He petitioned the teacher and miraculously the grade was changed to an 80 and a "B".
Really? At my DS's school you need an 85 for a "B". An 80 is a middle of the road to lower "C". My DS has four B's so far in HS. Apparently, language is my son's Achilles heel. He has two B's in English and two B's in Spanish over the past four years. The numeric grades for those B's were 87, 90, 91, and 92. The 92 was actually a 92.3 No extra credit, no meeting with the teacher, no forensic review of grading, etc.... He had 3 of the 4 marking periods were A's. He had an A on the final. Unfortunately, he had an 84 on the midterm and that was enough to derail him. You accept it. You learn from it. You move on.
I don't want to discount the value of being top ranked in one's HS class. It's an accomplishment worthy of praise. I get upset, or perhaps offended, when a parent of a child with a stellar HS GPA, but mediocre SAT/ACT scores attempts to explain that their DS/DD isn't a good test taker.
I envision a 2nd LT on the battlefield, under immense pressure and stress and attempting a calculation. He then proceeds to give incorrect coordinates resulting in the loss of an entire squad. Shocked, amazed and distraught the platoon leader utters, "hmmm, he had a really high GPA?". The company captain responds, "yea, but he was a really bad test taker".