Folsom Cordova high schools to stop ranking students for colleges. Here’s why it’s a trend.

Folsom Cordova Unified School District’s three high schools will join several others in the Sacramento area that no longer report student rankings to universities during the admissions process.

Counselors in the district said the ranking system doesn’t accurately represent the students’ achievements, and is often misleading – even hurtful – when they apply to colleges.

Ranking provides high school students with a number, based on their weighted grade point average. The higher a student’s GPA, the smaller the number. It’s how many schools determine who becomes valedictorian, the No. 1 ranked student, and salutatorian, the second highest.

“It’s an outdated practice,” said Vista del Lago High School counselor Anna McHenry. “We decided we needed to get on board with this.”

According to the nonprofit College Board, class rank was once a major component in admissions. But many small private and competitive high schools have eliminated it, believing that it left brilliant students out of the top 10 percent of their class, and causing them to be overlooked by prestigious colleges.

At UC Davis, the class ranking listed on a student’s transcript is not considered in the admissions process, said Ebony Lewis, executive director of undergraduate admissions.

In fact, the same is true throughout the University of California and California State University systems, as well as several private schools, according to the district’s findings.

But often, the universities’ first question to high schools is whether they rank students. If they do, they must submit them. By eliminating ranking, Folsom Cordova Unified high schools end that practice for their students.

Folsom Cordova high school counselors said universities do not penalize students for not providing their ranking. They added that rankings are actually hurting students.

“If we don’t use the class rank, the students are looked at individually,” said McHenry. “It’s difficult for students to have a 4.0 (GPA) and be in the top 20 percent.”

Currently, Visa del Lago student with a 3.0 GPA has a low rank of 318 out of its 369 graduating seniors, according to the district’s data. The rank could mislead a university into thinking the student’s application was not competitive.

In the district’s high schools, there was only a .01 percent difference between the highest ranked student and the tenth ranked student this year—an insignificant difference in the real world, school counselors said. And the rankings can be confusing or misleading since several students can share the same rank.

The Folsom Cordova school board discussed implementing the new plan Thursday night, but some parents expressed concern that they were not informed beforehand.

“I would encourage you to engage parents and students in this conversation,” said Folsom parent Chris Bertelli during public comment. “Build goodwill with the community and take extra time so that parents can weigh in.”

The district will beginning its initial outreach to students and their families, and school counselors will coordinate information sessions so families can learn about the upcoming change, officials said.

Several parents and counselors spoke in support of removing rankings from transcripts, citing anxiety and unhealthy competition as factors.

“I saw the pressure my children went through because of class rank,” said parent Annamarie Edwards, who is also a counseling clerk in the district. “I saw it with his peer group as well. Kids were crying, the kids you don’t expect to cry, because of their class rank.”

Board member David Reid questioned whether the elimination would work the same for all three high schools. At Cordova High, a student with a 3.05 GPA would be able to market themselves as being in the top 25 percent of the class unlike at Folsom or Vista, where the same GPA would fall into a lower ranking.

Folsom High School counselor Nicole Estrada said some students were focusing on ranking so much that they were choosing not to take electives out of fear it will lower their rank, or taking classes they have no interest in and are not directed toward their future college major.

More than half of all high schools nationwide no longer report student ranking, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

According to Cornell University’s assistant director of admissions, only 24 percent of its incoming freshman class provided a class ranking in addition to the elements of the application.

Students apply to colleges by providing a variety of information including their GPA, written statements, high school transcripts, and standardized test scores. Some private universities require letters of recommendations.

Several high schools and area districts have already eliminated the reporting of class rank. Davis Joint Unified has not used it in over a decade, according to district spokeswoman Maria Clayton. Private schools Jesuit and St. Francis no longer rank their students. And Oak Ridge High in El Dorado Union High School District and Del Oro High in Placer Union High School District are discussing following suit.

San Juan Unified stopped reporting class rank at all nine high schools this year. Mira Loma High was the first campus in the district to eliminate rankings in 2016, because rankings gave a skewed picture, said district spokeswoman Raj Rai.

“You could have a 4.1 GPA and be ranked No. 200 at your school,” Rai said.

The school now recognizes more than 50 valedictory scholars, as opposed to one student.

Folsom Cordova Unified still plans to to acknowledge several valedictorians each year, who they say were never chosen based on rank to begin with, but on a variety of other achievements.

High schools that do not rank their students will still provide University of California admissions offices with their list of students in the top 9 percent — but not necessarily ranked, according to Folsom Cordova counselors. Among that group, the UC looks at each individual’s GPA, according to the UC Office of the President. That’s done so that the UC can identify California students who may qualify under “eligibility in the local context” criteria for a guaranteed spot at a UC campus even if they are not admitted into their top choices. Among the 14 factors considered in a student’s application, the top 9 percent of a high school graduating class is eligible for the program.

The elimination of rankings at Folsom Cordova will go into effect in the 2019-20 school year.

This story was originally published March 1, 2019 at 11:20 AM.