I want to be valedictorian, but I can't, no matter how hard I try.

Even if I spend hours studying, working, writing, I cannot reach that coveted number one spot. It's true, the competition is fierce, especially among our class, but even if I manage to work harder and smarter and get better grades than every other student, it simply will not happen for me. Almost every student I know wants it as much as I do, but effort is not the issue for any of us. This is our dream, and we are all willing to do anything for it.

But for some of us, we simply do not have the resources to rise to the top. In this day and age of high-achieving students and deep-pocketed parents, class ranking and academic excellence now has a larger potential of being bought, putting lower-income students at an extreme disadvantage.

For most schools, class ranking is determined by weighted GPA. Each AP class taken can add a point to one's GPA, so naturally, the more APs a student takes, the higher the grade and class ranking. Now, with the option of taking APs online at the cost of $500 per class, the race to the top has quickly become extremely expensive. For example, the current top student of our class has taken 7 APs online. At $500 each, that's $3,500. If you factor in the cost for AP exams at $100 each, that's over $4,000 a school year.

My family simply does not have the money for me to be valedictorian. My parents want nothing more than for me to go to an Ivy League school and were at first extremely enthusiastic about me taking extra classes until they heard the price tag. My mother's face fell and my father looked away, ashamed. They couldn't fulfill the only promise they had made to me, to support me endlessly in my academics. They wanted it as much as I did, and they didn't have the resources to give it to me. I never asked again.

Hearing about others pursuing classes online makes me almost angry. I can work just as hard as them, but I can't achieve the same level. My parents' faces swim in my mind every time I hear about it, and I try not to cry. This dream that I have most likely will never be achieved. I think it is, in a word, unfair.

I don't dislike the students who try to get ahead, in fact I respect them. I'd like to say I don't believe in buying my rank, if my family had the money, I would be doing the same thing. Instead, I watch bitterly as their ranking shoots up, up, up, the gap between us widening. I try to tell myself it's okay.

To make all students competitive, not only the ones with wealthy families, high schools and colleges should consider unweighted GPA in ranking and consideration for acceptance. Without such a measure, those already behind financially may always stay behind, even in the seemingly equal world of academics.