At long last, Glenbrook South students will not be punished for the success of their classmates. Starting this school year, the school board voted to abolish class ranking from appearing on student’s transcripts.

Seniors, in years past, would have to show the college to which they apply the percentage they rank, in terms of their classmates. Unfortunately for Glenbrook South grads, GBS consistently ranks as one of the state’s best high schools. Students who finished in the top twenty-five percent at South, would be in the top five in a less competitive high school. So, following the lead of other North Shore schools such as New Trier, the Glenbrook district decided to eliminate class rank once and for all.

This decision is accepted with open arms by some students. Junior Will Pappo thinks it will even the playing field when it comes time for him to apply to college.
“I think it’s long overdue. It’s pretty ludicrous to think that applicants be compared to their fellow students, when the level of competition is so varied,” says Pappo.
Senior Tracy Lesht also feels that no more class rank will work to her advantage.
“Since the quality of education is so much better than the average [education] it is completely unfair for colleges to compare rankings,” says Lesht.

Even teachers at Glenbrook South recognized the need to eliminate class rank.
Dr. Daniel Oswald says, “The number of kids I’ve seen who should have made it into the college of their choice is really alarming, but the [previous] system made things more difficult than it should have been.”

However, there are some perceived negatives to the elimination. Some view the change as potentially detrimental to those students who rank extremely high in their graduating classes, although administrators have said that those students should continue to have success in the college application process regardless of the policy change. A small number of people also believe the change gives the district’s already advantaged students additional unnecessary advantages over poorer districts.

Whether or not the elimination of class rank will achieve the desired results remains to be seen. With the road to college acceptance already paved with horror stories of blown interviews and improperly filled out transcripts, the elimination of class rank will mean one less thing to worry about.

Peter Collins, columnist