Many high schools that have stopped providing that information think that it could negatively impact some of the best students. Colleges, however, often rely on that information and have found ways to extrapolate the data from other broader data that is provided. When there is not enough information to recreate class rank, colleges must give more weight to SAT and other exam scores.

High schools have eliminated class rank in an effort to cut down on competition in schools and try to encourage colleges to look at each student more closely. Says Dr. Jeanne Friedman, principal of Miami Beach High School, "When you don't rank, then they have to look at the total child."

Private high schools were among the first to eliminate rankings. Officials in those schools worried that students who were ranked lower in the class but having an A-minus average and strong test scores would be overlooked by colleges. Now almost 40 percent of all high schools have eliminated class rank or stopped providing the information to colleges.

Colleges are against the trend. College deans say it forces admissions officials to recreate rank, give more emphasis to test scores, or make poorly informed decisions.

"If we're looking at your son or daughter and you want us to know that they are among the best in their school, without a rank we don't necessarily know that," said Jim Bock, dean of admissions and financial aid at Swarthmore College.

"If a kid has a B-plus record, what does that mean?" said Jim Miller, the dean of admissions at Brown University. "If a school doesn't give any A's, it could be a very good record. You've got to position the kids in some relative environment."

"The less information a school gives you, the more whimsical our decisions will be," said William M. Shain, dean of undergraduate admissions at Vanderbilt University. "And I don't know why a school would do that." At Vanderbilt, admission rate is highest for students with a class rank.

But some colleges are in favor of eliminating the rankings. "I think it kind of frees us in some ways; it enables us to take the kids who are a joy to teach," said Jennifer Delahunty Britz, dean of admissions and financial aid at Kenyon College. "It allows you to tailor your admission process to what your institution strives for."