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Becoming Valedictorian. . .
Well, here's the thing. I'm only a freshman, soon to be a sophmore, but I am really concerned about my scholastic career. At the moment, I have a 4.0 GPA( My average of my classes is a 98), and I am taking an advanced math class. Anyway, I would really like to graduate valedictorian my senior year. I have stiff competition-at least two people who could also be valedictorian. Does anyone have any tips for becoming valedictorian? What classes should I take next year? I would appreciate any advice, or any websites that would help me out. Thanks!
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I think that your goal to be Valedictorian is a great and attainable one. It is always good to strive for excellence and "valedictorian" says your were the best academically among your peers. However, you may want to examine exactly why you want to be valedictorian and how you will deal with the idea of not becoming valedictorian.
I don't know if anyone garnished hard statistics, but take a gander at <a href="[Link](Mouse over link to see full location) article</a>. "Valedictorian" does not really give you a ticket to anything past college admissions. In college, everyone is starting from square one (even with AP credit, the credit is given, not the grade that you got in the course!). What propels you successfully through life is you work ethic, planning and ambition; not intelligence. Most leaders of Fortune 500 companies as well as many self-made millionares were not valedictorians. I went to two high schools. The valedictorian of one of them opted for community college (because she got married) and settled for a two year degree. The other did a bachelor's at a local college with person #5 in our class went to an Ivy League school on a music scholarship (smart, but because of the intense music studies, didn't get straight A's) and is now in Law School at Cornell University.
I don't say this to deter you; absolutely, you can have your cake and eat it too! But you'll see, when you are 23, 24 years old, what you did in high school becomes so inconsequential. Enjoy your teens, enjoy your extracurriculars. Focus on becoming well-rounded (a much needed asset in college) more so than just beeing a machine for stamping out A's on your report card. In case you're wondering, I graduated with a 96% average and was #31 in my high school (hey it was a big school!). I consider myself one of the more successful graduates in that I currently have a nice paying job working in the insurance industry, have learn 2 foreign languages, and have traveled the country and world quite a bit!
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Talk to your conselor. If anyone can help you, he can. My only suggestion would be to take as many AP classes as you can becuase I'm pretty sure that they have more pull than a "normal" class. If that makes any sense at all. But basically all you can do is work your butt off! Good for you for taking iniciative and kicking ass!
~ Douchey
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If you want to become valedictorian, then first you must find out the classes that you need to take. Some classes, according to whatever state you live in, rank higher than some others on the ranking scales for classes. Such as Honors, AP, and any other challenging courses that are high in rankings at your school. For instance, English II CP (College Prep) may only rank a 4 on the ranking scales for classes. However, English II Honors may rank a 5. So, of course, that would put you way over the top. To find out the ranking and status's of your classes at your school, I advise you to go talk to your guidance couselor. He/she should easily be able to clarify this for you.
Also, take courses that really are college approved. Technology courses, business courses, economic courses, etc. Take classes such as those because they sometimes put you over the top for validictorian and for colleges/universities as well.
You know that you'll have to study a lot to maintain the 4.0 GPA status b/c without it, you really won't have a good chance at becoming validictorian. You can never fully relax. You're going to have to be up on a lot of your studies. But, if it's what you want, then you have no problem. So, don't worry at all about that.
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