<p>I think this situation is very common. Currently the #1 ranked senior at my daughter’s HS is taking 4 AP classes, 1 unweighted elective, and 3 study halls. The school weights an A in AP = 5, honors = 4.5, regular = 4. So a kid who has, for example, 5 years of a foreign language will have a lower GPA than a kid with otherwise identical grades and courses who took only 3. However, I think college adcoms are onto this strategy.</p>