Essay On Class Rank

“According to the literature [College Board’s Admissions Decisions: What Counts; NASSP], eliminating class rank lessens hyper-competition and stress at a crucial time in high school students’ lives and encourages the college to view the whole person rather than use class rank against a student” (Walker 1). What is class rank and why does it have such a negative effect on students? According to College Board’s article “Class Rank & College Admission”, “class ranking is a mathematical summary of a student’s academic record compared to those of other students in the class.” It is determined using a student’s GPA, or grade point average. GPA is calculated on a 4.0 scale, with an A being a 4.0, a B being a 3.0, and so on. Students can achieve a GPA greater than a 4.0 if they choose to push themselves and take more rigorous classes, such as AP or college credit classes. Although class rank played a large role in schools for years,

Nationwide reform of such a small topic compared to other more detrimental issues plaguing the nation makes it unlikely that high schools across the country will make the changes necessary for class rank to accurately display students’ abilities and work ethic. In addition to the flaws with the actual system, class rank causes many problems with students in schools. Class rank encourages competition among students, which causes stress and pressure to be the best. This pressure is unhealthy because students put their grades above their physical health. Even though class rank is supposedly an accurate way to calculate who will succeed in college and who will not, the effects on students and the inconsistencies in how class rank is calculated outweighs the benefits and proves that it will benefit students nationwide if class rank is no longer