I go to a high school that does not release class ranks and when my guidance counselor was inputting my academic information, she couldn't submit it without a class rank. Should I tell her to use the rank from my SAT scores or is there something else that needs to be done?
high school doesn't rank
- Thread starter gnroberts
- Start date
My high school guidance counselor wasn't able to submit my academic information without a class rank.
My school doesn't rank either, but my counselor didn't say anything about difficulty submitting the information. It must be doable because she submitted it a couple months ago. I'm not sure if it is a pull down menu or a blank text field, but perhaps your counselor could put N/A, DNE, or something similar?
Dolphins2012
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Last year my DS simply wrote in the comments part of that section that his high school did not rank and included the name and telephone number to his guidance counselor. If it required such an entry (that may have been on his NASS application though - I can't remember), my DS estimated and noted explicitly also in the comments section that this was a blind estimate. It was a non-issue - he was LOA in August. As has been noted elsewhere here - USNA is well aware that a lot of schools aren't ranking anymore and it doesn't seem to be an problem.
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I think OP's issue was actually getting the form submitted. Evidently the guidance counselor couldn't figure out how to do that without including the class rank. I don't think he's too interested in a debate on how to handle the class rank or whether or not it's good. Not having submitted said form I have no idea how to help him, but it would probably be helpful if people's remarks were directly pertinent to his issue. I'm sure he's rather nervous about it.
Ranking
In reality, class ranking is a poor comparison. In the old days, students took similar course. Now you have many (AP, Honors, on-level, etc) to choose from in shapes and sizes. You could have a student take on-level (even basket weaving) classes and make all A's and another student take all AP courses making B's and both would have the same GPA at our school. Who is the better student? It is about accepting the hardest challenges your school has to offer and making it look easy. It's about challenging yourself on and off the field and in the community. Good or bad, the only common benchmark today is SAT/ACT and AP test. Some colleges will even toss your transcript GPA and recalculate it themselves (drop certain classes and use a different weight) by their set of rules.
In reality, class ranking is a poor comparison. In the old days, students took similar course. Now you have many (AP, Honors, on-level, etc) to choose from in shapes and sizes. You could have a student take on-level (even basket weaving) classes and make all A's and another student take all AP courses making B's and both would have the same GPA at our school. Who is the better student? It is about accepting the hardest challenges your school has to offer and making it look easy. It's about challenging yourself on and off the field and in the community. Good or bad, the only common benchmark today is SAT/ACT and AP test. Some colleges will even toss your transcript GPA and recalculate it themselves (drop certain classes and use a different weight) by their set of rules.
Class Ranking
Hi
My DS also goes to a private school who does not rank. The USAFA asked for the counselor to look at class size and grades and make a ranking for my DS. She did this and it seemed to satisfy admissions just fine.
Regards
John
Hi
My DS also goes to a private school who does not rank. The USAFA asked for the counselor to look at class size and grades and make a ranking for my DS. She did this and it seemed to satisfy admissions just fine.
Regards
John
My DD attends a very small public IB high school (class size of 46) and they do not rank. USMA asked for a ranking percentile (top 10%, 20% etc) which the guidance counselor provided. In the case of her USAFA application, we reached out to AFA Admissions and they provided direction. The other suggestion would be to meet with the guidance counselor and have her open up the portal to see if he or she is making an error understanding or inputting the information. We have a very expereinced guidance counselor at my DD school, and her expereince with the SA application process is very limited. Good luck!
Regarding the comments related to the class rank, I agree with most of them. We have observed "gaming the system" at the 2 HS my DD has attended, taking easy courses to bump GPA. There is a price of admission, some choose to pay now, other defer to a later time which can in some cases have severe consequences.
Regarding the comments related to the class rank, I agree with most of them. We have observed "gaming the system" at the 2 HS my DD has attended, taking easy courses to bump GPA. There is a price of admission, some choose to pay now, other defer to a later time which can in some cases have severe consequences.
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Have your school official contact USNA Admissions if they are having issues submitting the application, they will be happy to assist. What happens at other Service Academies has no bearing on what USNA wants or expects, so while others have posted anecdotes of their experiences with the application process at other SAs, please never assume that what happens at one SA is applicable at another.