When class rank is included in consideration for scholarships awarded...

[AuntieM]

What has been your experience with this? Obviously a home schooled student will not be able to provide a class rank. Is there some appropriate substitute measurement?

 

If you've encountered this, how did you handle it?

[Kareni]

I recall alternating between 'Not Applicable' and '1 of 1' depending on the circumstances and my mood.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Gwen in VA]

We always did "1 of 1"

 

Hey, if your child is at the top of his class, you might as well flaunt it! (He's also at the bottom, but we don't mention that part.....)

 

What do parents of twins do? :001_huh:

[AuntieM]

Lol, you gals crack me up!

 

But.... true is true, isn't it?!!

[FourOaks]

OMGoodness -- I have twins and that never even crossed my mind! So one is at the top and one is at the bottom. HA -- that sure wouldn't go over well for the family environment now, would it? :001_huh:

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I've always put 1 of 1, but several places have demanded more. I've used 94/100 or whatever, based on ACT score. Of course, that has the effect of doubling the importance of the ACT. Fortunately, my children have always done well on the ACT/SAT. I just use whatever percentile is listed on their score scheet and then label it as such.

 

That's an interesting way to do it. I was a bit flumoxed last year when my eldest applied to STEM camp and I had to leave class rank blank. I did put his test scores in the comments section, but I couldn't help but think that a blank made the app easier to toss.

[memphispeg]

OMGoodness -- I have twins and that never even crossed my mind! So one is at the top and one is at the bottom. HA -- that sure wouldn't go over well for the family environment now, would it? :001_huh:

I'd do it as .5 of 1. I think they fractionate class ranks in ps like that.

[Musicmom]

I'd do it as .5 of 1. I think they fractionate class ranks in ps like that.

A homeschooling high school workshop I attended several years ago warned against putting a class rank on the transcript, and especially against using something like 1 of 2 (.5 of 1 would be the same thing.) The reason is it turns into a percentage to compare the student to the rest of the class. Not only does it have no meaning for a homeschool, using it with that small a class it can actually hurt the student.

 

If you think about it, .5 of 1 means the student is in the top 50% of his class--not too impressive. Even worse, 1 of 1 means the student is in the top 100% of his class (hmmm.) In a large school, ranking is fine--being #14 in a class of 300 is great--puts you in the top 5%. But the smaller the class, the less useful ranking is. Many (esp smaller) schools do not rank their students and I suspect that it's for this very reason. In a class of 10, the top student can only make the top 10%--not good if he's applying for scholarships that are given to those in the top 5% of their class. And suppose the majority of those 10 students are A students with great test scores... so a couple of them end up in "the bottom half of their class" :confused: Doesn't make sense.

 

Anyway, I've always used "N/A, Homeschooled" whenever class rank is asked for. You could also probably use "My school does not rank", which may be what students from non-ranking schools do. For a scholarship application, I think I'd maybe also put a note that says something like "see standardized test scores" (which I would definitely put in a comment section or somewhere)--anything that calls attention to the fact that class rank does not apply here and the reader will have to look at something else to compare this student with others. If you put something like 1 of 1, an astute reader will probably notice it and figure out it doesn't apply, but who knows, you might get a tired reader who's going through applications at 3:00 am, blearily looking for top 20%'s, punches 1/1 into his calculator and moves on...

[Sebastian (a lady)]

One of dd's congressmen insisted that we do it that way.

 

On the subject of STEM camp, did your ds already have ACT scores? I think my youngest might be interested but all I have for her is ITBS scores. And she hasn't taken any actual college classes yet. Do many schools rank middle schoolers???

 

I don't know that many schools do rank middle schoolers. The trend in my area is for 7-12 secondary schools. I wonder if that results in ranking or if they still treat the school as having two different levels.

 

At the time he applied, he didn't have much of anything actually. I had him take the CAT specifically to get him a score. But there was a place to put gpa, class rank, and the grades and levels (AP/IB/Honors) of a slew of different classes. I was sort of making things up as we went along. I think he'd be a better candidate this year.

 

However, I now also know that between minority outreach and using the camps as a geographic diversity tool that he didn't really have much of a shot. Not when we live within day trip distance of USNA.

[memphispeg]

I think the common app had a "school does not rank" option. We put "n/a homeschooled" on our stuff when there was no other choice. I never used 1/1.

We also included a little few-paragraph essay on our homeschool philosophy and grading techniques where we could. Not sure how effective this was. We've not heard about money yet.

[Barbara H]

Many public and private high schools no longer use class rank. It is very common for high competitive schools to not use it because they've determined it is not to their student's benefit in the admissions process. So, it will very likely be the case that there are other students who attend school who also don't have this information. Sometimes applications ask for it, not because it is criteria for determining the scholarship, but because they are keeping statistics so they can say "95% of students who received the award were in the top 10% of their class." This isn't to say it never matters, but it isn't something you have control over and whether you list 1 or 1 or N/A homeschooled, it is really the same thing.

[Tiramisu]

Another creative idea: For a scholarship/special summer program application, one friend was able to get her ds's cc instructor to write a letter stating he was in the 10% of the class. Since he was accepted, it must have worked for that purpose.

[AuntieM]

A homeschooling high school workshop I attended several years ago warned against putting a class rank on the transcript, and especially against using something like 1 of 2 (.5 of 1 would be the same thing.) The reason is it turns into a percentage to compare the student to the rest of the class. Not only does it have no meaning for a homeschool, using it with that small a class it can actually hurt the student.

 

If you think about it, .5 of 1 means the student is in the top 50% of his class--not too impressive. Even worse, 1 of 1 means the student is in the top 100% of his class (hmmm.) In a large school, ranking is fine--being #14 in a class of 300 is great--puts you in the top 5%. But the smaller the class, the less useful ranking is. Many (esp smaller) schools do not rank their students and I suspect that it's for this very reason. In a class of 10, the top student can only make the top 10%--not good if he's applying for scholarships that are given to those in the top 5% of their class. And suppose the majority of those 10 students are A students with great test scores... so a couple of them end up in "the bottom half of their class" :confused: Doesn't make sense.

 

Anyway, I've always used "N/A, Homeschooled" whenever class rank is asked for. You could also probably use "My school does not rank", which may be what students from non-ranking schools do. For a scholarship application, I think I'd maybe also put a note that says something like "see standardized test scores" (which I would definitely put in a comment section or somewhere)--anything that calls attention to the fact that class rank does not apply here and the reader will have to look at something else to compare this student with others. If you put something like 1 of 1, an astute reader will probably notice it and figure out it doesn't apply, but who knows, you might get a tired reader who's going through applications at 3:00 am, blearily looking for top 20%'s, punches 1/1 into his calculator and moves on...

 

This is very helpful information! Makes sense... I can see them awarding, say, 3 points for those in the top 5%, 2 points for those in the top 10%, etc, etc.

 

But as another poster suggested, perhaps they now simply use these statistics in reporting and marketing literature.

 

I looked at the form, and there is enough space to add a comment. I will include that we are home schoolers and redirect them to test scores, a plus for my student who has nice scores for their consideration.

 

Thanks for all your input. This particular school has all indications of being very home school friendly and has actively recruited ds, we just want the big bucks award so I don't have to go back to work full time!

[memphispeg]

we just want the big bucks award so I don't have to go back to work full time!

 

Or, I would add, so we can work for the rest of the family (read dh and ME) instead of just paying for college until we are v. old and v. grey!!!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Yeah, I looked at the pics of the STEM camp and thought we looked pretty pale to be included... We do have the geographical thing going for us though! I've never done transcripts for middle school--never needed to. That might be quite a challenge!

 

I've considered suggesting they apply to camps at USAFA and USMA, just because they are farther from VA.

 

I have to remember that these camps are in large part an opportunity to expose kids who wouldn't otherwise consider the military or a service academy. My kids aren't the target market.

[MyThreeSons]

In SC, we have to belong to a homeschool accountability association, unless we are homeschooling thru the public school system. The accountability associations generally will provide transcripts and include a class rank. Since the state has specific criteria for the tiered scholarships that are offered, class rank can be important. The criteria include a combination of class rank, GPA and SAT/ACT score.

[Brenda in MA]

In SC, we have to belong to a homeschool accountability association, unless we are homeschooling thru the public school system. The accountability associations generally will provide transcripts and include a class rank. Since the state has specific criteria for the tiered scholarships that are offered, class rank can be important. The criteria include a combination of class rank, GPA and SAT/ACT score.

 

Laura,

 

I find it interesting that a homeschool accountability association could supply you with class rank. Are all the students enrolled in this association using the same curriculum? If not, then how would this group determine class rank when each enrolled child might be using different curriculum and might be held to a different grading standard by his/her parents.

 

Just curious...

Brenda

[MyThreeSons]

Laura,

 

I find it interesting that a homeschool accountability association could supply you with class rank. Are all the students enrolled in this association using the same curriculum? If not, then how would this group determine class rank when each enrolled child might be using different curriculum and might be held to a different grading standard by his/her parents.

 

Just curious...

Brenda

 

That's one of my frustrations -- it does seem that class rank is misleading. But, you know, even in public schools, different teachers have different rules, and so the grades are inconsistent there as well. Another problem is that the class rank rule is by percentage -- top 6% of the class is the upper tier. The homeschool accountability associations, by law, only have to have a minimum of 50 members (not at each class level), so if you belong to a small group, you pretty much have to have the top GPA.

 

Thankfully, the lower tier only requires two of the three components, so a student qualifies with a 3.0 GPA and 1100 SAT/24 ACT score. For the upper tier, both the GPA and SAT/ACT score qualifications are tougher as well as that 6% rule.

[MyThreeSons]

When I was going round and round with our local Community College, I really had to bite my tongue to keep from blurting out something about how stupid the rules are for homeschoolers.

 

Our local CC gave us such a run around that ds ended up enrolling in a CC in a far-away state. They processed his application and financial aid package in a fraction of the time we had already spent here.