One more addendum--
DD wound up graduating number 2 in her high school class. Now, there are some caveats here (and really, this isn't rationalization, but it's worth noting because, well-- you'll see).
Understand that DD took ALL of her high school requirements through her school, during the regular terms, and nothing elsewhere. Her college coursework is all dual enrollment (mostly AP), and I mention that because some kids play games with P/F grading so that a *weighted* GPA becomes higher, since it isn't dragged down by unweighted graduation requirements. DD's GPA is
au natural there-- it IS significantly weighted down by things like PE (A+, of course, but still, it dings you when the 4.0 gets averaged into a 4.5 GPA on the term otherwise...) She also took unweighted elective coursework that wasn't strictly required-- which dragged the GPA down a bit as well, in spite of earning A's in those classes.
Her final high school GPA was 4.35 cumulative. This is also not a "perfect" GPA-- she has a B on that transcript. From when she was ten. {sigh} Her
unweighted GPA is something like 3.98-- like I said, not perfect.
She is also a big-picture kid with a FIERCE social justice streak-- and a fierce, fierce sense of rationality-- getting A's in this system has been TORTURE for her much of the time, since merely "playing the game" well has felt intellectually dishonest to her-- she really dithers about whether to offer the "right" answer... or the
expedient one. Anyway. I mention that because she is divergent in terms of compliance/system-adaptation. It tends to make her subversive and defiant. There are things about this program that make it
harder for PG kids relative to MG ones.
The valedictorian is also an HG+ student-- his GPA
has been goosed, I think, given what I know DD has taken, what I know
he took, and some other particulars about the two of them. He's an academic all-star as well, though, no two ways about it.
Still, the two of them are WAY out ahead of everyone else in the class-- by TENTHS. The two of them are separated by hundredths. The two of them are BOTH anomolies-- higher GPA's than anyone before or after them-- by almost a full tenth, in fact. What's funny about this is that it's been just the two of them since freshman year, and both of them have known it all along. In ANY other year, nobody else would even be competition for #1. {Number 3 wasn't even close, but would have been #1 last year.}
DD was also the only girl in the top 7.
DD, Salutatorian, is considerably younger than the Valedictorian, though. Well-- by 9 months, anyway.
All of that to explain why, even at #2 (which might be a surprise/underperformance in a clearly PG kiddo, accelerated or not)--
I am BEYOND proud of her.
