So at a HS with say, 300 students in a graduating class, there will be several students that take that load and get all A's (probably at least 20 at Blacksburg for example, maybe more). Then a couple would take a few of those classes where you can only get a 4.0 at a community college over the summer, and then they will have a higher GPA because a greater percentage of their A's will be 5's. So at those schools it's mathematically impossible to be valedictorian unless you "play the game." I went to a rural HS in upstate NY back in the 90's. We only had two AP classes available to take, and grades were on a 100 point scale rather than having letter grades. So if you cared about your grades (I didn't really care) you could never relax with an "A," you always needed to get a 98 or 99, or whatever. Hell, even PE class gave you a numerical score. But our valedictorian got a 1500 on the SAT when he was in 7th grade and was way ahead of everyone. He was a legit genius.