BY SABRINA VICTOR
Among American high school students, there seems to be a huge desire and emphasis on having a top class ranking. To accomplish this, students have to take as many AP and dual enrollment courses as possible in order to be in the top of the graduating class. However in the midst of all of the competition, students don’t seem to care about learning subjects that interest them, but instead take the courses that will boost up their GPA, and in turn their class rank. Sadly, competitive universities such as the University of Florida foster this way of thinking and often place a high value on class rank when accepting students. In order to preserve the purpose of learning, decrease the competitiveness between classmates, and do what is best overall for the students, both students and universities need to stop caring so much about class ranking.
With the current system of class rankings, students seem to care less and less about learning what they love. Instead of taking AP and dual enrollment courses in subjects that are enjoyable, they just take as many as they can to get past that 5.0 weighted GPA. The fun in learning is slowly been sucked away because kids feel obligated to compete against those who are attempting to boost their GPA as well. Students are being overly stressed out by taking more than three AP courses/two dual enrollments, resulting in an overwhelming lack of sleep, relaxation, and socialization. For a kid who doesn’t have time to take the maximum load of these college credit classes due to a job or other extracurricular commitments, they are at a disadvantage compared to those who do. The bottom line is that class ranking is no longer based off of intelligence, but rather who takes the most classes. The number of students taking non-beneficial courses, such as Physical Education at Broward College, continues to rise as they fight the battle to keep their position or move up.
Class rankings breed unhealthy competition between classmates. By making class rankings so open, students gain a sense of disdain for others that are ranked at a higher position. Meanwhile, students at the other end of the spectrum feel inferior to those at the top. As a school and community, students should be uniting to strive for the success of our school as whole, not fighting against one another. There is no reason our school should allow a brew of hatred to cook. Instead, public schools should keep class rankings a secret like numerous private schools. This would hinder competition in the student body and free kids from the worry of class rankings.
Although class rankings are meant to help colleges measure the success of a student in the context of their school, it can actually work to do the opposite. With the current number system, depending on the size of the class, a student’s class rank can appear to not be impressive. Being 10 out of 100 appears to be great, while 100 to 1000 looks awful but in actuality they equate to the same thing. Therefore the number system is flawed, and percentiles are a much better way in determining the success of a student in context with their graduating class.
The current class ranking system is ineffective and needs to be revised to a percentage system that doesn’t factor in who took the most college credit courses. Rigorous courses should be calculated into GPA, but frivolous electives shouldn’t. Until these measures are resolved, colleges should not put such a high value on class rankings because they fail to measure intelligence or success.
