Utterly Meaningless

In my day, we had GPA and QPA. QPA stood for “Quality Point Average” and it was calculated using only academic classes. It was QPA that determined our class rank. This would have solved this kid’s problem.

But on the other hand, cry me a river. My very smart child is ranked 117th in her class. Her school attracts the very brightest (nonhomeschooled) kids in the city and she takes all honors classes. Yes, they count more, but they are very, very demanding. She’d probably have been valedictorian in my podunk high school.

In my experience, the valedictorian is generally far from the brightest kid in school. Besides, it’s just public school. Who cares?

I concur. In my own high school (many moons ago), the valedictorian was this geeky little runt who from Day 1 of 9th grade was a grade-grubbing PITA. He probably ended up bitching and moaning on a blog somewhere at 1:28 a.m.

I was top 10 in my graduating class.

10th in a class of 26 🙂

I can see why he’s upset — a valedictorian designation and four bucks will buy you a venti skinny mocha latte.

Actually, there are scholarships for valedictorians.