George Mason High School does not send anyone??s class rank to colleges because ranking can hurt good students. Mason is an exceptional school, and as such, many have high GPAs. So, anyone with a slightly lower, but still high GPA would see a lot of students rank before him or her.

??We??re trying to help all students,?? said Amy Kurjanowicz, George Mason??s Director of Counseling.

The school has not ranked students in, at the least, twenty years. Now, other schools are joining Mason??s long-time practice. Many schools are moving away from reporting student rankings as well.

??[Ranking] only helps people at the top,?? said senior Haewon Jeong.

The student population generally does not seem to take issue with this. Instead, some are simply curious about where they stand.

??I want to know though,?? Katie Crigler, senior, said. Crigler also mentioned?how the question of her ranking surfaced during an interview, but she could only give a decile.

However, Mason does give students?? deciles. This means that an institution requiring this figure would only know if the student is among the top ten, twenty or thirty percent, for instance, but it would not be able to pinpoint the exact rank.

Mason also discloses the top grade point average in the graduating class. The school is mandated to do so in the Common App. So, in effect, a college will be able to know if one is the top of the class in terms of GPA, but it will not now the exact ranking of the rest of the students.

Finally, Colleges also receive the school??s profile, which provides a snapshot of the past year??s already graduated class. This snapshot includes information relating to the rigor of the courses and the type of student that attends Mason. All of this can help give colleges an estimate as to where an applicant stands.