“Gaming the system: our school ranks by weighted GPA” - Do posters here realize that there are plenty of HSs that do NOT weigh the GPA and DO NOT rank their graduates? It is redundant information anyway, the colleges trip the weigh and recalculate the GPA anyway and they have no problem determining the applicant rank based on the applicant GPA and the HS class profile which all HS have to provide.
You really believe that the top caliber HS student will be engaged in these stupidity, listed in post #61:
– waiting to take health until you are 17 so that you are eligible to take the community college health class
– taking a language other than the 3 at the HS, so that you can take it at the community college
The smart kids are so very busy with everything that they want to do, the real things, not the “club” participation, they do not care about all of these. However, taking the DE class that will be transferable to any UG, the class that they do not want to spend their precious college time on while they can be helped by their parents at home with the difficult concepts in this class, it is a smart strategy that is pursued by all top students. Get it out of the way, focus on what is important to your goal!This type of game is a winner in my eyes!