Adding to this…: from my personal experience, with few exceptions, most of these “perfect” students" did not follow their careers after college, or when they did, nothing impressive, mediocre really.
The world out there is not about studying for tests and scoring good grades.
Look at the most exciting people, inventors, artists, breakthrough scientists, etc. - usually, they have a story to tell about NOT being the 1st in their classes…
There is no map; everyone is unique and will follow their path and, hopefully, live a happy adult life.