When I was in high school - oh those many years ago - many of the gifted kids (myself included) took classes at the local Large State University.
Through a glitch in translation - this was a huge detriment to us in determining valedictorian. In short - an "A" grade in classes taken at the university was the highest grade a student could get. Large State University did not give A+ as a grade. At the high school, an "A" grade translated to a 95. Even more though - it translated to a 95 for each hour of credit. So my "A" grade in university level chemistry translated to 3 grades of 95 on my transcript. Same for calculus, physics, etc. As you can imagine, this devastated my GPA as compared to kids who took no classes at Large State University.
Astonishingly - none of the parents of the gifted kids at university protested. In hindsight, they were brilliant. It turned the competition for valedictorian at our school into an "also ran." The decision to take university classes effectively opted you out of that competition, and the culture was such that the gifted kids all did that. Oh - and there were no "AP" classes at our school because why would you take AP classes when you could go take credit-earning classes as Large State University instead?
I'm so grateful for that culture. I wish I could recreate it for my son. It was rooted in the idea that we learned because it was fun. We learned because it was right for us. I know everyhting is different now. But I wish it wasn't.
Sigh,
Sue
