Valedictorian

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You won't know who is valedictorian until June, long after college apps are in.

+1. All guidance will say is that the student is in the top 2% of the class. IF the student stays on track, they “might” be a valedictorian.

💯
Also Vandy does not give hardly any merit aid. They give a lot of needs based aid, not merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Val kid got into more than 4 t15 unhooked, picked a top ivy. The Val year before was shut out of all T20. The difference? Rigor. Val only matters if the Val took the hardest classes

Is this a fancy way of saying five?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You won't know who is valedictorian until June, long after college apps are in.

+1. All guidance will say is that the student is in the top 2% of the class. IF the student stays on track, they “might” be a valedictorian.

💯
Also Vandy does not give hardly any merit aid. They give a lot of needs based aid, not merit.

We just got a solicitation email from Vandy for NMSF for $6k per year (so I agree, not much merit).

[Anonymous]

I truly feel for the Valedictorians and Salutatorians who get shut out of the T-20’s (no, my kid was not even in the running for either). It’s an incredible accomplishment but there’s only so much room…I do appreciate the state university systems that automatically offer admission to #1 and #2 to their state flagships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You won't know who is valedictorian until June, long after college apps are in.

+1. All guidance will say is that the student is in the top 2% of the class. IF the student stays on track, they “might” be a valedictorian.

💯
Also Vandy does not give hardly any merit aid. They give a lot of needs based aid, not merit.

[Anonymous]

Fascinating....published in The Prince.

Only 20% of Princeton Students Were Valedictorians

https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1gr2bqc/only_20_of_princeton_students_were_valedictorians/

Definitely interesting data for Class of 28, here's what jumped out-

25% of international students had their school offer IB.

40% of engineering students had math beyond Calc BC.

In humanities, 35% had done BC, with 15% beyond.

14% had no APs. More than 65% had >7 APs.

There are no rats at Princeton >95% knew their peers cheated but didn't not report.

30% studied less than 10 hrs a week, 12% studied more than 30 hrs 👀

20% of students said they cheated in high school, probably because they included plagiarism in here.

Those not receiving aid had scores concentrated in mid 1500s. 22% of those on full aid had under 1400.

40% of recruited athletes had under 1400.

76% had community service, 8% had businesses (highest % was in non selective public students), and 40% did academic research. 0.4% did not do ECs.

Most popular majors-

Undecided -> International Affairs -> CS -> Mech & Aerospace -> EE -> Econ -> Math

[Anonymous]

A student might be valedictorian, but schools like UVa will look at the classes you took to see if they were rigorous. So being valedictorian is not a free ticket into a competitive university.

For example, I was valedictorian and got into UVa where I went to college. When I went back to my high school to see my sister graduate, I learned that neither of the 2 co-valedictorians her year got into UVa. I heard they didn't take the most rigorous courses (and their SATs weren't that hot either), so they didn't get in.

[Anonymous]

of course. I got into Harvard Law as a valedictorian where ..... I met 300 other valedictorians

[Anonymous]

Many competitive high schools do not award Val and Sal anymore.

[Anonymous]

Does valedictorian help just as much at a high school like W&L where there are lots of valedictorians?

[Anonymous]

I think a lot of things come into play. When I interview students for scholarships, I take notice that they're valedictorians (and it does give them a leg up), but I also weigh that against their essays, test scores, and extra curricular activities. If you have a 4.0 but didn't do anything else in high school, the question asked is, "How will this student contribute to the university's culture and overall class?" There are tons of smart students (and other valedictorians) applying to the top schools. How do you stand out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fascinating....published in The Prince.

Only 20% of Princeton Students Were Valedictorians

https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1gr2bqc/only_20_of_princeton_students_were_valedictorians/

Definitely interesting data for Class of 28, here's what jumped out-

25% of international students had their school offer IB.

40% of engineering students had math beyond Calc BC.

In humanities, 35% had done BC, with 15% beyond.

14% had no APs. More than 65% had >7 APs.

There are no rats at Princeton >95% knew their peers cheated but didn't not report.

30% studied less than 10 hrs a week, 12% studied more than 30 hrs 👀

20% of students said they cheated in high school, probably because they included plagiarism in here.

Those not receiving aid had scores concentrated in mid 1500s. 22% of those on full aid had under 1400.

40% of recruited athletes had under 1400.

76% had community service, 8% had businesses (highest % was in non selective public students), and 40% did academic research. 0.4% did not do ECs.

Most popular majors-

Undecided -> International Affairs -> CS -> Mech & Aerospace -> EE -> Econ -> Math

[Anonymous]

^My kids are at Penn and the data is very similar: 50% Engineering took post-BC, 22% Wharton post BC, 18% CAS