Class rank system unnecessary, causes stress

Right there on your transcript, right under your GPA, sits your class rank. Some students worry endlessly about raising it, while others barely notice it’s there. For those obsessed with the idea of raising their class rank, this number makes their lives unnecessarily stressful. The class rank system is useless and only harms students. 

In the past, class rankings may have been more important. With smaller class sizes, seeing where you sat among your peers could have been beneficial.  

In today’s classes, students don’t need to be constantly reminded how they compare to everyone else. It only causes more mental strain. Unlike one’s GPA, it’s very hard to change class rank if one wished to do so. Study a little harder in class and turn in your homework, and suddenly your 2.5 GPA turns into a 3. But, studying harder likely isn’t going to fix your class rank.  

If you take fewer honors credit or AP classes than another student, you’ll likely be below them in class rank. Even if you work just as hard, if not harder, than the AP student, they will be above you in class rank. 

A college isn’t going to look at your transcript and say, “Well, it looks like John Smith was right above this person in class rank. I think I’ll send him the acceptance letter instead.” All that really matters on the academic front is GPA. Yes, this is what class rank is based on, but there’s a large difference between seeing how you are doing and where you need extra work versus seeing where you stand in comparison to your classmates, most of whom you probably don’t know.  

The most anyone could possibly need to know about your class rank is your percentile. Top 25% versus bottom 25% is all colleges or standardized tests are going to care about. 

It’s a broken system. There’s no way for a dedicated, non-honors student to rise above. In this way, class rankings don’t represent hard work anymore than they represent class choices. They don’t serve a purpose, and there’s no reason to continue using them as a means of evaluation.