Frequently Asked Questions

How will this impact college admissions?

Class rank in any form is simply used as another piece of data to help describe a student, as are grades, strength of program/course load, letters of recommendation, and extracurriculars. Some colleges report that they will look at rank if it is reported, however, colleges state that they cannot and will not eliminate a candidate from consideration if they do not report rank because so many high schools do not. Instead, admissions committees will focus on other elements of a student’s profile. 

It is also important to note that class rank is not a metric that students use in the college exploration process. In assisting students with their college searches, the SuperMatch and scattergrams in Naviance are widely used tools that assist students in finding schools that match their interests and academic performance. The SuperMatch is made up of multiple criteria under ten different categories and class rank is not one of them. Nipmuc students use the Naviance scattergrams to determine if an individual college is a reach, safety, or realistic match on their list and, again, class rank is not a factor.

How will this impact scholarship considerations?

One important consideration in the elimination of reporting class rank to colleges is the potential impact of a student’s ability to qualify for scholarships. However, due to the number of high schools that are no longer reporting rank, colleges have responded in kind. For instance, at the University of New Hampshire, the Presidential Scholarship at UNH used to state, “Rank in top 10% of graduating class (or equivalent level of unranked schools as determined by GPA and/or information on the school profile).” However, now UNH does not mention rank at all in their description of requirements. Many college/university merit based scholarships have shifted to be based on GPA, SAT/ACT, and other criteria determined by individual institutions. 

What other high schools have moved away from class rank?

The following is just a small sampling of area high schools in Massachusetts that do not report class rank and, for most, the year they eliminated class rank:

• Acton-Boxborough (2012)

• Andover High School (2009)

• Auburn High School

• Bedford High School

• Bromfield High School

• Concord-Carlisle Regional High School (1997)

• Dover-Sherborn Regional High School (2002)

• Duxbury High School (2006)

• Grafton High School (2020)

• Hingham High School (2006)

• Hopkinton High School (1999)

• Hudson High School 

• Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School (2004)

• Mansfield High School (2020)

• Marshfield High School (2019)

• Medfield High School 

• Millis High School

• Milton High School

• Nashoba Regional HS (2013)

• Natick High School

• Needham High School (2019)

• Newton North High School (2011)

• Newton South High School (2010)

• Norwood High School

• Shrewsbury High School (2016)

• Tahanto Regional High School

• Uxbridge High School (2021)

• Wachusett Regional High School (2015)

• Wayland High School (2011)

• Wellesley High School (2004)

• Westborough High School (2006)

• Westford Academy (2007)

• Weston High School (2003)

• Westwood High School (2003)