One could make a strong argument that an applicant’s high school rank should be removed from college admissions decisions. There are a variety of reasons that assessing an individual’s class rank puts some students at an unfair disadvantage. For one, not all students have equal access to resources.
It also places students with similar GPAs and test scores at a handicap when comparing them with other students from the same school. Another reason that class rank inclusion may not be ideal has to do with inconsistent grading in classrooms. Teachers’ scoring is often subjective and varies by teacher which isn’t fair for students who take classes with stricter graders. It also causes increased pressure for students who feel the need to keep up in the ranking at the cost of their mental health and happiness.
Additionally, class rank creates a decrease in collaboration and fosters an environment of competition which can lead to undue stress and is not healthy for students who have to learn to work with others. With changing high school curriculums, class rank is not necessarily accurate or consistent either.
Leaning away from class rank enables universities to select students using a more holistic approach that focuses on their extracurriculars, personality, recommendations, and other achievements outside of the classroom. It has also been found that standardized test scores may actually be a much better indicator of college success and readiness than class rank.
Proponents of including class rank cite that it is less subjective than using other measures, better prepares students for college competition, encourages high levels of academic achievement, and simplifies the admissions process. For universities that get a large number of applicants from a particular high school, class rank can be used to weed out a sizable chunk of applicants on the front end so that the college won’t have to expend as many resources to review all of them. But this also means that some applicants won’t get a fair shot in the review process.
In my opinion, high school rank is not a good indicator of how well a student will do in college, which is why many private high schools have done away with ranking altogether. Ranking students often puts very good students at a disadvantage when comparing them to their peers. I feel that a fairer comparison can be accomplished by looking at a student’s weighted and unweighted GPA, as well as their standardized test scores. Using this method, reviewers can get a similar (more fair) feeling for how individual students compare to their peers without putting them at a large disadvantage or prematurely cutting them off based on rank. Many higher education professionals believe that we will eventually move towards the removal of class rank in admissions decisions, and I believe it will make for a better and more objective selection process.