Shrewsbury Moves to Eliminate Sharing Class Rank With Colleges and Universities

SHREWSBURY, MA—As standard practice, high schools have long submitted a student's class rank along with other information for admission to a college or university.

Forming a "class rank study group," this Shrewsbury collection of 10, including the principal, teachers and guidance counselors, met on a regular basis to studio how admissions offices use class rank in granting students admission to a college or university. They further looked at calculating whether it could be detrimental to the admissions success of Shrewsbury's students.

The group reviewed current trends in class rank reporting throughout the state and found that Shrewsbury High School should "eliminate the practice of reporting class rank to colleges and universities."

The committee researched more than 30 comparable public and private high schools to understand the rationale for doing away with class rank or continuing to report it.

"Our research revealed that no private school studied, calculated or reported class rank to colleges or universities," wrote the committee. "The committee also found that the vast majority of comparable public schools have moved away from reporting class rank and most have done so in the last 15 years."

Read the full report here.

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