We at the Tower believe class rankings could give the competitive motivation needed for students to realize their full grade potential and lead to further success beyond their high school years.

Grosse Pointe South currently doesn’t offer class rankings, in which students receive placement based on their grade point average (GPA). They are given a number, one being the best, out of all the students in that grade. The student ranked first is the valedictorian of the grade, and the student ranked second is salutatorian, and so on.

We feel that class rankings would benefit students in school and in the future, by providing competition amongst peers and rewards for their success.

According to school counselor Nick Bernbeck, students already have lots of motivation to get good grades, such as pride, parental expectations, wanting similar grades as their friends and ambitions of getting into prestigious schools.

“[Class rankings] could help for motivation,” Bernbeck said. “I think there’s enough motivation right now to get good grades, but it definitely wouldn’t hurt.”

Students’ work ethic would improve if South were to start doing class rankings. There would be more competition and pressure to succeed, allowing students to work to their full potential.

Maddy Campbell ’20 believes that this competitive edge would help her succeed as a student.

“It forces me to strive to be better than what I think I can do,” Campbell said.

Class rankings would also benefit students in the long run beyond high school, helping them become familiar with competitiveness. By the time they start applying for college and jobs, they’ll be open to working under pressure and being compared to other candidates.

“In the real world, there’s always competition,” Campbell said.

According to the College Board, public high schools that rank students give them the option to not submit their scores. Should South start doing class rankings, they could make it optional for students who don’t want the extra stress.

Students are also permitted, but not forced, to include their class rank on college applications according to the College Board. The option provides an opportunity for students to gain further recognition from colleges and boost their chances of acceptance.

“I know that valedictorian and salutatorian would look better to a college potentially,” McNamara said.

The school could also weigh GPAs depending on if the student is in honors or advanced placement classes. This adjustment would eliminate the incentive of taking non-honors classes, in order to get a high GPA, and thus a higher placement in the class rankings.

“It might undermine the types of classes you take, but if you want to get that 4.4 you’re going to have to take those advance high school classes that give multipliers,” McNamara said.

While there may be a few obstacles in the way of a full-fledged ranking system, we believe that in the long run a rating system would supply the encouragement to students who have a difficult time striving for better grades.  

A class rankings system could provide many perks to students in both their high school and future college lives. The choice to participate would entirely be the students’, avoiding unwanted peer pressure and added stress. The rankings would work for the students, as an incentive for excellence and achievement during their high school careers.