Best high schools in the US: How are the rankings determined (2024)

FAQs

Best high schools in the US: How are the rankings determined? ›

The Best Public High Schools ranking is based on rigorous analysis of academic and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education along with test scores, college data, and ratings collected from millions of Niche users.

The Best Public High Schools ranking is based on rigorous analysis of academic and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education along with test scores, college data, and ratings collected from millions of Niche users.

In order to find your class rank, first check your most recent report card or high school transcript. Your class rank should be there, usually near the bottom of the page. You should be able to see what your class rank is and how many people are in your class.

The Test Score Rating measures schools on academic proficiency, using performance on state tests (the percentage of students scoring at or above proficiency) across grades and subjects, compared to other schools in the state, to produce a 1-10 rating for each school.

What is class rank? Class rank is a way to measure how your academic achievements stack up against other members of your grade. Class rankings are determined by ordering students from highest to lowest according to their GPAs (which can be weighted or unweighted depending on your high school).

Ranking depends on what state you live in

But as far as the federal government is concerned, test scores are very important. While schools aren't required to do achievement or assessment testing, those test scores often determine if a school can access federal grants or funding.

Assigning Ranks

The overall score is calculated as a percentile score that indicates what percentile position a school is in out of the nearly 17,660 ranked schools. For example, a school with a score of 90 means that 10% of the schools are ranked higher and 90% of the schools are ranked lower than that school.

Class Rank and Colleges

Some colleges that used to rely on class rank now use SAT scores and GPA. Most large state universities, however, still require applicants to report class rank (as do many scholarship programs) and rely on it to help sort through the high volume of applications received.

Class rank is a ranking of all the students in a high school class from highest to lowest GPA, with the student with the highest GPA being ranked No. 1.

How accurate are Niche high school rankings? ›

Niche takes steps to ensure data integrity, but rankings may be inaccurate if Niche is supplied with inaccurate data from schools, data sources such as the US Department of Education or spam and automated 'bot' reviews.

While college rankings can offer valuable insights, they should not be the sole factor in building your list and choosing a college. Instead, you should prioritize factors aligning with your needs and aspirations. Focusing on fit allows you to make informed decisions that set you up for success in college and beyond.

A rating scale is a scale against which a learner's performance is rated, producing a quantifiable result. The rater is usually trained in applying the scale before they rate real samples of language. The IELTS exam is an example of an exam that uses a rating scale.

To determine class rank, each student's GPA is calculated and then compared. At most schools, class rank can be found on a student's transcript or report card. How's that work in practice? Well, if there are 400 people in your grade, you will be collectively ranked from 1 to 400.

The most common reasons for getting rid of class rankings are that they are a disadvantage to some students, they harm students' mental health, and they can affect students applying to college with class rankings.

Valedictorian, salutatorian, and designations like summa cum laude won't make it onto your college applications. These honors won't be official until the very end of your senior year, long after colleges have already made their final decisions.

Simply put, these national high school football rankings are based on a team's record, its strength of schedule and its margins of victories and losses. Wins over the best high schools in America will provide more of a boost than a win over a struggling opponent.

Your school may also report your percentile: whether you are in the top 5 percent, top 10 percent, top 25 percent, and so on. If you're in the top 10 percent, your GPA is higher than the GPA of 90 percent of your classmates.

Each quartile represents 25% of the students in the class, based on their cumulative GPA or other criteria used by a high school for ranking students. Here's a brief breakdown of the quartiles: 1. First Quartile (top 25%): These students have the highest GPAs and are in the top quarter of their class.

Niche takes steps to ensure data integrity, but rankings may be inaccurate if Niche is supplied with inaccurate data from schools, data sources such as the US Department of Education or spam and automated 'bot' reviews.