Class Rank Guideline
Class Rank Guideline / Quality Point System
Souderton Area High School does not publicly report students’ individual class rank. For college admissions, counselors will report a student’s cumulative weighted grade point average (WGPA), and will report the range, mean, and median GPAs for the student’s class. If required for scholarships, armed forces, etc., counselors will report decile rank (10%, 20%, etc.) based on a quality point system. While SAHS does not report class rank, the ranks are used to establish students’ decile rank.
For the purpose of determining the top 5% of students for Valedictorian selection and for invitation to the Scholars’ Banquet at the end of junior and senior years, students who are in the top 5% based upon either quality points or WGPA after the 3rd Quarter will be included.
See below for an example of how quality points are used to determine decile rank.
No type of ranking will appear on a student’s high school transcript.
Quality Point System
Example of quality points calculation:
Student A
| Course | Grade | Numeric Equivalent | Course Credit | Course Weight | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English 9 Honors | B | 3 | 1.0 | 1.25 | 3.75 |
| Modern US Hist. Acad. | A | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| Algebra I | A | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| Total QP | 11.75 |
Student B
| Course | Grade | Numeric Equivalent | Course Credit | Course Weight | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English 9 Honors | A | 4 | 1.0 | 1.25 | 5.0 |
| Modern US Hist. Acad. | A | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| Algebra I | A | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| Total QP | 13.00 |
Student C
| Course | Grade | Numeric Equivalent | Course Credit | Course Weight | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English 9 Honors | B | 3 | 1.0 | 1.25 | 3.75 |
| Modern US Hist. Acad. | A | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| Algebra I | A | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| French 1 | C | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| Total | 13.75 |
Based on the above examples, despite the C in French I, Student C would be ranked number one in the class because this student took more courses and had more quality points. Student B would be ranked second and Student A would be ranked third.
Two types of GPA are calculated at the High School – a weighted and an unweighted GPA. GPA is calculated by dividing the total number of quality points by the total of credits. Using our student examples from above:
Student A had 11.75 quality points and 3 credits. This student would have a weighted GPA of 3.916. In order to calculate an un-weighted GPA Student A’s quality points would have to be adjusted by removing the course weight. Therefore Student A would have 11.00 un-weighted quality points and an un-weighted GPA of 3.666.