Fairly recently, between five and ten years ago, I graduated from a fairly good, but not 'elite' by any measure, public high school. In the early 2000s the enti

Fairly recently, between five and ten years ago, I graduated from a fairly good, but not 'elite' by any measure, public high school. In the early 2000s the entire school system removed the valedictorian and ranking systems from their high schools. I used my high-school counselor extensively during the college admission process and they made it very clear to me that the reason why the school system got rid of ranking and valedictorian was to help out the college admission outcomes for the school system. The school wanted to portray themselves as a great school from top to bottom. By not ranking it would portray a more elite status for the school. If they ranked, a 50th-percentile student from their school may be compared to a 50th-percentile student from a 'lesser' school district. It was purely for helping reputations and not at all about 'mental illness' or preventing winners and losers. But in the end of the day I think the students win from this type of policy. The difference between a student in the 99th-percentile and the 90th-percentile is likely not much at any given high school. I agree with the policy, it could be the difference between getting into a top University, or being rejected.