As Chicago area high schools like Oak Park-River Forest High School (OPRF) debate the importance of ranking students by GPA this spring, New Trier prepares to enter its fifth class rank-free year.
After switching from individual rankings to a decimal system in 1995, New Trier followed the lead of prep schools and prestigious public schools on the East Coast by examining the potential impact on college admissions of removing class rank.
According to James Conroy, post-high school counseling department chair, the administration decided to abolish class rank when it became clear that many New Trier students were specifically disadvantaged by it. “It was not an equal opportunity system,” said Conroy.
The biggest problem with the existing class rank system was that admissions officers would often overlook a qualified, capable student because of his class rank. Since colleges publish the average class rank of admitted students as an indicator of academic excellence, a lot of weight was placed on a single number.
“I think the bottom line was that many colleges said, ‘If you eliminate class rank, we can dig deeper into your class and take more kids,’” explained Conroy.
To make matters worse, a student’s class rank often failed to reflect his academic success. “There were students who took stronger classes but had lower class ranks,” said Conroy. “The class rank didn’t reflect the quality of the curriculum.”
The post-high school counselors also felt that it was difficult to compare a New Trier ranking to a ranking at a smaller or less competitive school. Conroy said, “The top 10% at one school is not the same as the top 10% at another school.”
Fortunately, New Trier students no longer have to worry about an unfair comparison. The decision to eliminate class rank seems to have paid off, at least from the perspective of Conroy. In addition to the expected benefits in the area of college admissions, Conroy stated that New Trier’s culture has improved since class rank was eliminated.
OPRF is now in the same position that New Trier was in a few years ago. Its administration recently announced plans to discuss elimination of class rank.
Currently, OPRF ranks students individually, so it could simply switch to a decimal system like New Trier did back in 1995. According to the Chicago Tribune, some parents have expressed concern that top students will lose their competitive edge in college admissions.
Some New Trier parents likely shared this query at the outset of the rank elimination process. However, Assistant Principal Matthew Ottaviano said, “Once we explained the rationale, the reaction was very positive.”
The general opinion among students seems to be positive as well. Many current students feel strongly that class rank would be far from beneficial. Echoing a sentiment shared by many of her peers, senior Colleen O’Connor said, “I think class rank is unnecessary. I think there’s enough competition.”
Senior Kristen Ann Fox added that if we had class rank, “students would be more obsessed [with grades] than they already are.”
Junior Sanober Charania detests the idea of being compared to others. “It’s so mean,” Charania said of class rank.
Others believe New Trier’s size would make it difficult for perfectly good students to be ranked highly. Junior Juliana Sawma said, “That could work for a class of 20, but not for a class of 1,000.”
“It’s such a large school that the top 10% would be the super-smart kids,” said senior Matt Curran.
Like James Conroy, students recognize that a class rank may not accurately reflect a senior’s achievement.
Senior Annie Padgitt said, “I don’t think it would be a good representation of how smart people are because colleges don’t realize how hard our classes are.”
But despite the overwhelming opposition to class rank, some students acknowledge that the want of class rank brings minor disadvantages.
Senior Max Mandel said, “A lot of scholarships ask for class rank and we don’t have it.” Even Conroy, an anti-class rank enthusiast, admitted that students might miss out on insurance discounts because they don’t have class rank.
For now, it seems that these drawbacks are just the price students must pay to avoid the trappings of class rank.
Junior Robyn Mech, nonetheless, has a solution that would help students who want to know how they compare to their peers without facing any negative repercussions. “I think it should be private where only you see your class rank,” she said.
According to Conroy, this proposal gels with the original purpose of class rank. “Historically,” he said, “class rank was never intended to go outside.”