<p>Our school disregards study hall and lunch when calculating GPA. </p>
<p>I was forced to take a study hall sophomore year to accommodate Honors Physics, and it was completely disregarded in GPA calculation. </p>
<p>Our school weights band/chorus and some easy electives like human development and accounting. As a result, the valedictorian for the past four years were all in band or chorus, often both. </p>
<p>Grade whoring happens a lot in my school. Everyone here speaks of fractions of difference as a small difference, but in our school, there is a huge difference between fractions of GPA. A 4.6 is much higher and harder to get than a 4.5 or even a 4.55. </p>
<p>Similarly, the higher you go, the more effort and work you need to put in to just increase your gpa by the slightest fraction. Currently, the valedictorian has a 4.70 and I, who’s second, have a 4.67. Even though the difference is only .33, that is essentially impossible to make up unless if he gets B’s and I get straight A’s.</p>