Allentown High School may follow trend of other area schools in not reporting class rank (Nov.17)
By: Lauren Burgoon
UPPER FREEHOLD – Picture yourself as a high school senior, anxiously sitting by the mailbox awaiting a thick envelope signifying admission to your top-choice university. You’re fairly confident about your chances. You have a 3.9 grade point average and scored 1270 on the SATs – not too shabby by anyone’s standards.
But then a thin envelope arrives, the dreaded mark of rejection in the college admissions season. The reason? You are ranked in the 16th percentile of your class and the university in question will only accept students in the top 15 percent.
This is not a far-fetched scenario, Allentown High School guidance counselor Patrick Leary said. In fact, he sees it happen to several AHS students each year – well-rounded, high-achieving students rejected from colleges because they just barely fell outside an arbitrary cut off.
It’s why he is asking the Board of Education to drop published class rank beginning with this year’s sophomore class, the first class yet to be ranked by AHS.
There is a growing trend among area schools not to report rank. Local schools that do not include Notre Dame, Princeton, South Brunswick and West Windsor-Plainsboro high schools.
There also is increasingly less importance attached to rank, according to information Mr. Leary gathered from the National Association for College Admission Counseling. Twenty-eight percent of colleges said last year that class rank was of "considerable importance" in decisions, compared to grades and course work (80 percent) and test scores (60 percent.)
Rank’s significance in admissions decisions is falling annually, according to the same information. Ten years ago, 40 percent of the colleges considered it important and that number has fallen steadily, while test scores and essays’ importance has risen in the same time.
Despite this, Mr. Leary and board members are expecting resistance from some parents, particularly those who have top-ranked children. However, Mr. Leary said the policy should be beneficial to most students because colleges will be forced to consider more carefully grade point averages and test scores rather than rankings.
Colleges often use ranks as the "gatekeeper" of whether an application moves past prescreening to consideration by admissions officers, Mr. Leary said.
"I think for some of the Ivy Leagues, the Dukes, the Stanfords, it makes a difference," he said. "They say it doesn’t, but they really want students from the top 10 (percent). If you look at people who fall between the top 10 and top 15, the statistics go dramatically down from the students that are accepted."
Part of the problem, as put by Assistant Superintendent Maybeth Conway, is that high schools are turning out "cookie-cutter geniuses" more focused than ever on attending a top university. Among AHS’ senior class, only 0.011 of a grade point determines who is included in the top 10 percent; 0.008 of a point separates the 25th and 26th percentiles.
The ranking system is made more competitive because of AHS’ weighted grading for honors and advanced placement courses. All of the top students enrolled in these courses have GPAs above 4.0. So many students enroll, and do well, in weighted courses that a current junior with a 4.0 GPA is not in the top 15 percent of the class.
Mr. Leary acknowledged some drawbacks to eliminating published ranks. For some students, rankings are a motivation to push themselves academically and do well. It’s more convenient for college admissions officers to judge students and it’s a simple way to measure academic performance. Rankings also make it simple for AHS to recognize top students at graduation, where the valedictorian and salutatorian typically give speeches.
If rank elimination is approved, AHS will find different ways to honor top students and select graduation speakers, Mr. Leary said. Other schools, such as New Egypt High School, select student graduation speakers based on a sample speech, not academic ranking.
But the benefits of eliminating published rankings, the guidance counselor said, outweigh the system’s benefits. He can tick off cases of students refusing to take electives or classes like oceanography and forensic science because they are not weighted, students asking to take classes pass/fail so the course will not harm their rank or capable students dropping difficult courses in favor of easier classes and guaranteed A’s.
Some students are "more concerned about their (ranked) position than learning. It’s a shame," board member and teacher Elizabeth Trent said.
The guidance department hopes rank elimination will encourage students to enroll in tougher courses where they can learn more without worrying about the damaging effect of not earning an A.
Primarily, elimination means colleges no longer can disqualify students based on rank, Mr. Leary said. Currently colleges know AHS does not have an elimination policy, so attempts to leave off students’ ranks on applications have been met by requests from admissions officers for the number.
No available rank will force colleges to consider the overall admissions package and focus on GPAs and standardized test scores instead, both factors a student can control more than his or her rank. For example, the student with a 4.0 GPA, but is not in the 15th percentile, likely will advance in the admissions process because the rank was not a disqualifying factor.
The new policy will principally benefit B students, Mr. Leary added. Currently a student with a B-average (3.19 GPA) is ranked in the 50th percentile, a ranking that could dissuade colleges from accepting the student.
"The 4.0s are moving lower and lower in the class. That scares me… That then pushes the B students lower and lower in the class," Mr. Leary said.
AHS has contingency plans if the school board approves eliminating published rank. The school will still privately rank students because most scholarship programs and military institutions require it. Rankings will be available in such cases under separate cover from applications so parents and students do not see the rank.
The guidance department also will prepare a detailed profile for colleges that outline the curriculum, overall class performance and other factors to help admissions officers judge the rigor of AHS’ program. This will allow the school to present itself in the best light, Ms. Conway noted.
Even if published ranks are eliminated, students will be able to deduce roughly where they stand. For example, New Jersey’s Edward J. Bloustein scholarships are only offered to the top 10 percent of students. Only students in the top 20 percent can receive free community college tuition through the state’s Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship (NJ STARS.)
A final decision on eliminating published ranks is weeks away at best. The school board’s Curriculum and Instruction Committee will first consider the proposal before the full board weighs in. The district will spend those weeks collecting comments from the community.

